Ties that Bind

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:17

The other day on my way home from running errands, I saw a mother duck and 10 baby ducks in the road trying to cross the road. Unwittingly, the mother duck was leading her baby ducks away from the safety of the pond where they lived to a busy intersection where there was no shelter or safety. I immediately terminated the call I was on and stopped my car to help them. I knew that if I didn't do something to help them, something bad was going to happen. As I tried to herd them, they began to scatter. So, my friend got out of the car to help me. The two of us managed to gather them and navigate them back into the pond away from the road. We both breathed a sigh of relief. They were safe.

In Psalm 139:5, it says, "You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me." The word hem means "to enclose or confine; to surround or shut in". God hems us in on all sides to protect us and keep us safe because he loves us and thinks we are precious. I have experienced being "hemmed in" by God through the sacrificial love of friends. There have been times in my life when a friend saw that I like the mother duck was unknowingly heading into danger and they stopped everything they were doing to help me and lovingly guide me back to safety. You see, when we help care for the needs of a friend, we are displaying the love of Christ. This is the love of God in a tangible form, holding us together from the outside. 

God holds us together from the inside as well. Awhile back, I saw Louie Giglio give a talk on a substance called laminin that really drove this point home for me. During his talk, he spoke of a protein in the human body (and in all animal tissue) called laminin that is essentially the glue "holds us together" from the inside.  Laminin is defined by the Webster Medical Dictionary as a "glycoprotein that is a component of connective tissue basement membrane and that promotes cell adhesion." In other words, laminin causes one cell to attach to another. Without it, we would literally be a blob of cells with no organs, tissues, or form. What is even more amazing about it is that if you look at it under a microscope, it is shaped like a cross. Christ's fingerprint and God's love can be found at even the most microscopic level.

Colossians 1:15-17 says, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." The very maker of the heavens and earth who so lovingly created us holds us together from both the inside, even at the most microscopic level, and from the outside by surrounding us with the love of others. So the next time you feel like you're falling apart, look around and look within, and you will find his mighty love holding you together.