Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 (ESV) – Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?

I nearly froze to death one night during bootcamp. We were doing a field exercise, which means we are sleeping in tents and sleeping bags. Each guy was partnered with someone. Nobody is ever solo. The weather that evening dropped below freezing. It was terrible. To make matters worse, soldiers do not receive state-of-the-art gear during bootcamp. It is old hand-me-down supplies. Our sleeping bags were doing nothing to keep us warm. 

My battle buddy and I didn’t want to freeze to death. What did we do? We combined our body heat together and got into the same sleeping bag. You will do a lot of things when you are miserable. But the result: our body heat kept us warm through the night and helped us to endure the experience. 

This reflects the principle we read about in Ecclesiastes 4:9-11. There we hear, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?” The emphasis of this text stresses the importance of community.

Notice Solomon writes that two are better than one because they can help each other. There is greater reward and outcome from their labors. If one falls, the other is there to help them. If two are freezing to death in their terrible sleeping bags, they can keep warm by combining forces. The power of community is obvious. 

For believers, this community is found in the local church. God has designed the Christian faith in such a way that we are a part of a family. Christians not only connect to God through faith in Christ’s sacrifice, but we connect to one another. This community helps us.

We draw strength from one another and we help one another when one is down. Don’t live in isolation from the body of Christ. Throw yourself into community and watch how the Lord helps you in your life through those people.
Two are better than one.

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Reflection & Journal: 
- Why does Solomon emphasize the importance of this principle in today’s passage?
- What are examples of how this passage applies in different scenarios in our lives?
- How connected are you to the local church? Are you plugged into community in such a way as to be helped if you needed it?

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