BUILT TO HANDLE HEAVY LOADS
October 10, 2024
Roads are built to stand up to the traffic load they are expected to bear.
For instance, the driveway at our house consists of a shallow layer of base under a shallow layer of asphalt. That’s plenty strong for the vehicles that Kathy and I drive.
By contrast, since Interstate 10 anticipates far greater traffic loads, they are built very differently.
Building a highway like I-10 takes years of planning that involves route selection, surveying, leveling, and engineering work.
The actual construction requires laying a foundation of a SUBGRADE (compacted soil), then a SUBBASE COURSE (crushed rock), then a BASE COURSE (a mixture of bitumen and granular material), and, finally, a SURFACE COURSE (also usually bitumen and granular material).
Whew!
All of that work isn’t needed on my driveway, but it is vital for a road that will last for decades of heavy traffic consisting of innumerable cars PLUS eighteen-wheelers hauling enormous loads.
It would be silly to create a highway and then limit it to bicycles and subcompacts. It was made for weightier stuff. If it wasn’t intended for heavy-duty use, it wouldn’t have been made so strong and durable.
Likewise, the windows in buildings in Florida are designed to withstand 150mph winds precisely because hurricanes (like Helene and Milton) regularly batter Florida. Buildings in California are subject to “seismic codes” that require new construction or remodels to build according to earthquake resistant standards because earthquakes often hit that state.
When it is anticipated that something – a road or a building – will be routinely tested by stresses and pressures, it will be built to withstand and to thrive under those stresses.
And all that is true of roads and buildings is also true of the relational ties that bind Christians together. Our relational ties are strong because relational stresses are anticipated.
We find reference to these strong ties in the New Testament. Among those ties are that each believer has been:
BAPTIZED by the Holy Spirit. All of us have been immersed in the Spirit’s presence and power. (1 Corinthians 12:13)
SEALED by the Holy Spirit. That creates for all of us an eternally secure bond with God and with each other. (Ephesians 1:13)
Added as a MEMBER to the body of Christ. That means that we all must contribute to the proper working of the whole church, together. (1 Corinthians 12:27)
ADOPTED into the family of God. We are each the others’ brother or sister. (Romans 8:15)
Those are very strong bonds. God provided those bonds between us because He anticipated that those bonds would be tested by the gale force winds of challenging inter-personal relating as we take “next steps” with Jesus together.
All of this is apparent when we remember the many “ONE ANOTHERS” we also find in the New Testament.
We are to FORGIVE ONE ANOTHER (Ephesians 4:32), a gift we can only give if we get close enough to be hurt by or offended by each other.
We are to BEAR ONE ANOTHER’S BURDENS (Galatians 6:1-5), something we can’t do if we don’t know each other well enough to know what the other person’s burdens are.
We are to SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24-25), something I can only do for you if I know you well enough to know what motivates you.
Strong relational ties are required if we are to carry out the commands to PRAY FOR (James 5:16), SERVE (1 Peter 4:10), ADMONISH (Colossians 3:16), and ACCEPT (Romans 15:7) ONE ANOTHER.
Our connections in Jesus are strong enough to support all of this. What a pity if we restricted ourselves to the bicycle and subcompact traffic of small talk and trivia?
It is my hope and prayer that everyone in our church is increasingly proving the sufficiency of the ties that bind us by genuine, heart-to-heart relating with others here.
Are you availing yourself of the potential for growth in Jesus that comes through practicing the “one anothers”? I hope so.
If not, you could join a Sunday morning Adult Bible Fellowship (at 9:30 or 11:00) or you could give me a call to find out about Care Group options. Ladies, you could join the on-going Wednesday evening women’s Bible study. Or you could take the initiative and simply grab a meal or a cup of coffee with a brother or sister.
By whatever means or methods, by all means, let us “one another” each other.
Yours…His,
Dave