“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 KJV)
Redundancy…. Load balancing… These are terms quite common in the mind of a network and systems engineer. They are staples to building an technology infrastructure that can withstand the necessary down times of system maintenance, patching, upgrading, and migration. They are even practical in handling the highs of peak usage time when the business needs them the most. They appear at first glance to be the design of a very intelligent individual and something that requires specific and well planned out management. Yet from the perspective of the machines, it requires coordination, following specific commands, interpreting complex policies, and the understanding that there will be times when you are going to be off line. A lot can be learned from the completely selfless act of shutting down due to an error or malfunction and turning over the load to another near by. An interesting key difference between us and the machines is choice. The machine follows an ever increasing hierarchy of managed commands. Who’s command do we follow? We have a will that can choose whom we will serve. We can attempt to become the manager and serve ourselves. We can humble ourselves and serve God. We can join with other managers and serve objectives that are man made. Yet, the best of all worlds seems to be to listen closely for God’s command and humbly and selflessly turn over our burdens to Him that we might carry the yoke He has for us (see Matthew 11:29, 30).
We have another interesting difference, purpose. Jesus gives us purpose and meaning. Not just direction, but real existence. Living in the machine continually eliminates meaning. A machine may be plugged into the cleanest of power sources and never have an existence. For the machine, it is always a process, a cycle, a query and a response, but never real meaning. Managers tend to push people into a process and discourage the individual characteristics that reveal the awesome underlying understanding with which we were made. Surrender counters this with unzipping the person’s potential. Redundancy may extend the process into a virtual eternity, but an eternity with Jesus reveals meaning in layers yet untold. To be gathered together in the name of Jesus gives us each a new and fresh glimpse of very real purpose and meaning.
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20 KJV)