We Need Each Other
Pause:
Before you start reading this devotional, take a moment to stop what you’re doing, slow down and focus on Jesus.
Pray and ask him to open your eyes to see as you read the scriptures, and to open your ears to hear as you wait on the leading of the Spirit.
Read:
Hebrews 3:13: “But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception.”
Going Deeper:
I love the movie Apollo 13. It’s epic in every sense - the story, cast, budget, scope. It tells the real-life story of the third mission to send humans to the moon. Moon landings were becoming “routine” and so the rocket launch, as extraordinary as it was, and the first couple days of Apollo 13 attracted little attention. Everything was going smoothly until suddenly and without warning everything went terribly wrong.
An explosion rocked the spacecraft and before long caution and warning lights started blaring. In a moment, the three crew members of Apollo 13 were short on the essentials - electricity, water, light, and oxygen. Navigating became difficult and the disorientation was so great that the ship nearly floated off into space. Landing on the moon was no longer an option. Now, the priority was to make it through the long and difficult journey to get these astronauts home alive. This would require them to work together, trust each other, and have each other’s backs if they wanted to make it home.
I’ve been struck by how much the letter to the Hebrews has in common to the core themes of Apollo 13. Hebrews is written to a community of disciples whose “launch” was awe-inspiring and yet they were struggling to make it home. They initially were so gripped by the love of Jesus that they were willing to lose property, social capital, and even freedom as some went to prison for their faith. However, somewhere along the way some got disoriented by their troubles, lost their way, and were in real danger of rejecting Jesus’ offer of life and drifting away from Him. From a human perspective, it wasn’t clear if they’d make it home.
The writer to the Hebrews offers this letter to help them reset their compass heading. How? He wants them to fix their eyes on Jesus so they can rediscover how wonderfully loving, merciful, and good He is. If they do that, they can find their way again and make it. However, this is not a solo endeavor. Like Hebrews 3:13 indicates, every disciple needs other disciples in their life to finish their journey.
I see something similar in the way Apollo 13 made it home. Perhaps the final significant hurdle they faced was to pull off a course correction late in their mission. This required them to fire their engines to put them back on track but they had no computer system and had to find a way to orient themselves manually. They realized they could do this if they kept the Earth in the window while firing their engines. This was critically important - without this course correction they’d skip off the Earth’s atmosphere and never make it home. How did they pull it off? It required all three of the astronauts to work together. Each had a part to play. The burn wasn’t pretty; the ship was bouncing all over, unstable, drifting, and yet together they worked to keep the Earth in that window. At the end of the burn, they were on course. Home was in view. The rest is history.
Much in the same way, we need each other to help us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and not drift away from our heavenly destination. It goes almost without saying that this is all the more necessary in this season of COVID-19 in which we’ve all suddenly lost our orientation. The temptation to isolate will be strong, but we must resist this temptation at all costs. We can’t fight sin alone. We can’t course correct alone. We need the community of Jesus to help us keep Jesus at the center.
What might that look like in this season? Is there someone God is calling you to journey with, check in on, or practically love during this season? Who might He be putting on your heart to call this week to listen to and encourage? Might He be calling you to be open to receive encouragement from others without defensiveness or dismissiveness?
Let’s fix our eyes on Him, together. He’s pretty amazing. We’ll close with this reminder of what He’s like:
Hebrews 4:14-16: ’Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens — Jesus the Son of God — let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.'
Pray:
Respond to God in prayer by speaking to Him about what stood out to you from this passage this morning.
Listen:
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you this morning?
Apply:
What are you going to do in response to what God is saying to you from the text and by the Spirit?