Meandering - Give Them Yours

“Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:1-2 NLT 

Pastor Kevin DeYoung highlighted this story in an article about two brothers who both compete in the sport of triathlon. A triathlon consists of a 1.5k swim, 40k bike ride, and a 10k run. I feel a heart attack coming on just thinking about this! The Brownlee brothers are, Alistair, and his younger brother, Jonny. Alister has two Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016), while Jonny placed third in London and second in Rio.

Recently, in an end of the season World Triathlon event, both brothers, as always, were in contention to win. The race, however, was in hot and extremely humid Mexico. After a gruelling hour and forty-five minute race, Jonny, very near the finish line and ahead of his older brother, became seriously disoriented and, in obvious pain and dehydration, began to fall apart. He had not paced himself properly. His body was shutting down. No longer in complete control, he wandered intermittently into the crowd, struggling to stay on his feet. It was then that his older brother, Alister, coming behind him, gave up his chance to win, put his younger brother’s arm over his shoulder, and guided him forward, finally pushing him across the finish line ahead of himself. Apparently, such assistance is legal, as long as both are registered competitors in the race. You can watch this dramatic example of brotherly love here.

As the sign outside our church this week reads: “If you see someone without a smile, give them yours.” This same principle, in Jesus’ name, can be extended to say, “If you see someone without hope, given them yours. If you see someone without grace, give them yours. If you see someone without love, given them yours. If you see someone without strength (ready to collapse), give them yours.”

Thanks for Meandering along with me.