Come across a lone wolf and you'll be scared! Come across a pack, and you'll be terrified.
When I became a Christian, I thought that I could do this on my own. I don't need to go to church or read the Bible, God will love me because I will be a good Christian and my heart will be sincere. Little did I know that I was going at it like a lone wolf - doing things my way in the name of Jesus. Whether it had to do with how I parent my boys, how I was behaving as a husband, and how I handled myself at work. I was gonna do this.
Then, an American megachurch pastor found his way into my podcast player. He was blunt, and loud, and funny. He was nothing like what I thought a pastor was. He said over and over again that I should read my Bible, so that night I went home and did just that. I opened it and couldn't put it down.
Over and over again the Bible talks about "we" and "they" and "together". It was in 1 John 1:7 where I read that "...if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another..." and even as I write this it's hitting me like I'm reading it for the first time. We can't do this on our own, I can't do it on my own. We need to be in fellowship with other believers and with Jesus.
"A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of it's members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner." Dietrich Bonhoeffer
A wolf by itself is scary to it's prey, a wolf in a pack... well, the prey can try to run and hide but chances are, it's done for. That's how I see us Christians now, as a pack of wolves that stick together. I know the Bible uses the analogies of lions quite frequently and I love that, but this idea of a wolf pack intrigues me. It doesn't speak to how we ought to treat potential new members of the pack but when it comes to this war we fight with the enemy I think it works perfectly.
Thought for the day
"I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing that we share for the sake of Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord's people." Philemon 1:6
Spend time with fellow believers, not just so that you may be filled, but so that they may be filled. Together you are much more terrifying to the enemy, and so much stronger than we can imagine.