1, 2, 3, 4, ….

Down for the count is the term used in boxing when a fighter is knocked to the mat and is unable to get himself up to keep fighting  before the referee counts to ten.  At ten, the fighter standing is declared the winner.  When a boxer is knocked down, he alone can get himself up on his feet.  It doesn’t matter how much his coach, his wife, his children or even his fans want to help him up, he must stand on his own.  

5, 6, 7,…

I am thankful that we’re not boxers.  When we get knocked down with different circumstance in our lives, like an unexpected left hook or a continued pounding we can’t seem to escape,  we don’t have to depend on our own strength to get ourselves back on our feet.  Instead, we can count on one another to help lift us up, encourage us, instruct us, and get us back in the fight, trusting in the victory we have in Christ.

 Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. 1 Thess 5:11 (NASB)

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.  Hebrews 10:23-25 (NASB)