Bible Passage: “They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,’ he said to them. ‘Stay here and keep watch.’” (Mark 14:32-34 NIV)
Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 4:7-12
There’s a tiny mining town in West Virginia called Slab Fork.
There are no restaurants there. There are no hotels or places to stay. It has a population of about two hundred people. The saying, “If you blink, you will miss it,” seems an ideal description of Slab Fork.
But this community is tight-knit. They care for each other. They watch out for each other. No one is on their own; they are together.
At least that’s what one hometown boy remembered after moving 2,400 miles away to Los Angeles.
When Bill Withers arrived in the big city, though there were a lot more people, he felt very much alone.
One day, while plunking away on his piano, the words “lean on me” came to his mind.
And he thought to himself, “What would make someone say those words?”
And so, he wrote the song that reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1972:
Lean on me when you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend; I’ll help you carry on.
For it won’t be long
‘Til I’m gonna need somebody to lean on.
It was a simple song, but it resonated deeply with many.
Six years earlier, Simon and Garfunkel’s song “I Am a Rock” reached #3 on that same list. They wrote:
I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain.
I am a rock, I am an island.
Those are wildly different ways of looking at how a man approaches life.
Is it necessary for a man to have “somebody to lean on”? Or can a man truly live as an island?
I believe the Bible clearly shows that it is the former, not the latter, that is God’s plan for men.
So, let’s go to God’s Word together this week and see why it is so important for men to have brothers—friends—they can count on.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to understand Your idea of how I can best live my life. Teach me the importance of community. Lead me to the men You would like me to invest in. Bring men my way who could be real brothers to me. Thank You for Your unending Presence in my life. Amen.
Reflection: Who are the men that you would consider “brothers” in your life? How might you be able to lean even more on their friendship?
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