Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.  – Hebrews 10:24

Draft horses are fascinating creatures that have been utilized throughout human history to help haul heavy loads. One horse can pull a load of around 8,000 pounds on its own. When you yoke two draft horses together, they can actually pull 24,000 pounds, three times the amount they could pull alone. Even more remarkable is that if these two horses have been trained together, they are actually able to pull four times as much weight as they do by themselves. What an amazing illustration of the power of working together!

Christians were not meant to do life alone. Like draft horses, while they may be strong on their own through God’s Spirit, when two or more come together in union with Christ, their strength and abilities multiply. For this reason, the author of Hebrews instructed believers to gather together in community and to encourage each other to continue loving and doing good works. Love was not meant to be practiced in solitude. In fact, it can only be strengthened within a community. Community can be challenging, offering opportunities to learn to love and forgive in new and deeper ways. Refusing to meet with fellow believers is a withdrawal from the exercise that grows “muscles“ of love. The writer of today’s passage makes it clear that Christians need one another for regular encouragement, during both good and difficult times.

Are you living more like the single draft horse right now in your life, working alone? Or do you resemble the pair of horses that are able to pull exponentially more together? Ask God to give you wisdom to know how to “pull with“ and encourage those around you in their faith. Pray over the nation’s governing officials, that they may learn how to act like draft horses, working together to accomplish amazing things for God.