"E & E's"

Romans 15:5-6 (NIV) “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

When I was in high school I tried out for the Cross Country team. It was my first crack at running distance and I wasn’t very good, the truth be told. As a matter of fact, I was the slowest runner on the JV team, but I was on the team. In high school, the course is 2.5 miles long. It is twice that distance in college, but it was apparent from the beginning that I would not need to be concerned with that. During the course of the race, your coach, a smattering of fans perhaps and at times the varsity runners, would shout out encouragement to you. They would shout out things like: “good pace, keep it up” or “you can catch that guy in front of you, he’s tiring” or “there is no one behind you, you look strong”. It meant a lot to hear that from people. It was normal, especially for someone with my apparent lack of talent, to get discouraged in the middle of a race. Face it, when pretty much everyone passes you and you know you are dead last with most of the race to go, you realize that at that point you are just in it for the exercise.

Having said all that, I will say that it did have a positive effect on my physical endurance and by the end of my 2nd year of running I HAD accomplished a self-appointed goal I had set for myself and announced to the coach at the beginning of my final year. Because I achieved what I had set out to do that year, my coach awarded me a Varsity Letter. It was one of the proudest days in my life.

Scripture likens the life of a Christian to running a race. During this race you also need endurance. It is through the Holy Spirit that we achieve this endurance. Our encouragement comes from various sources; God uses preachers, brothers and sisters in Christ, strangers, lyrics from songs, magazine articles and hopefully devos like this one. Everyone, no matter who they are, needs encouragement. Some more than others, but we all need to be lifted up. I like to call it our “E & E’s”; encouragement & edification.

There is also a process that must be applied. I refer to it as our “A & A’s”; absorption & administration. Big words that have a simply meaning. Not only do we need to “absorb the E & E’s that are sent our way, but we need to, in turn, administer them to others around us. This is so that we will be of one mind toward Christ and glorify Him with one voice. For without Him, we are absolute nothing. I am a firm believer that without the good that God has placed in my heart, I would have no good in me. So THAT is where I am coming from when I say we are “nothing” without Him.

John 15:5 (NIV) “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!!