Haverim.

“No one should live without a Rabbi or die without a disciple.” – rabbinical saying.

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I have always loved this quote, because I believe the idea behind it to be so true - that God desires for each of us to be both mentor and disciple, teacher and student.

But I think the quote needs an addition.

Because there is mentorship and there is discipleship, but there is also friendship.

So in my head, I think the quote should go like this:

No one should live without a Rabbi, die without a disciple, or let one day pass without a Haver.

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Haver is the Hebrew word meaning friend, companion, or comrade.

In the Biblical Jewish tradition, the word haver could mean something like a study-buddy – a companion who read, studied, recited, and asked questions of the Word alongside of you.

Basically, a haver is someone who you seek God with – a relationship between friends that works to sharpen and mutually encourage.

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This idea is at the forefront for me this week, because after only 3 days in Costa Rica with my friend Anna, God has taught me so much.

I have been reminded, once again, of the importance of Haverim.

Because God has used Anna, already, in incredible ways to reveal to me who He is – to speak to me, to challenge me, and to make me extra excited about His Word.

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In Matthew, Jesus promises us that when two or three are gathered in His name, He is with them.

And because God fills and teaches and relates to each person in unique ways, when we come together with others and seek God with them, our eyes can be opened to new truths, big truths, powerful truths – truths that we might not have gathered on our own.

God’s word tells us that we “are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

These verses show us that we are each a part of the ONE house, and that God is building us together as a place that He might dwell.

God is communal, and God is discovered and seen and experienced through relationship. Without it, we can never fully know Him.

To the church of Epehesus, Paul writes:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

This verse packs so much into so little, but the basic concept (I think) is this:

The Spirit of Jesus is graciously given to each one of us, as individuals, so that we might have strength to believe.

After we are rooted and established in His love, personally, we are then to come together as a community of believers in order to experience the FULLNESS of God’s presence and love.

A big part of understanding how wide and deep the love of Jesus is comes through the love we experience and offer in fellowship with fellow believers.

Disciples. Haverim. Rabbis.

COMMUNITY.

We can experience God’s love on our own, but we cannot experience the FULLNESS of it unless we are in relationship with others.

And I believe this to be true, I claim it and witness to its truth, because I have experienced it in my own life.

I see God so much better when I see Him through many sets of eyes.

His love seems so much more astounding when I am asked to love others myself and realize how much it really requires – His grace seems so much more beautiful when I am offered it by others – His joy feels so much bigger when it is shared.

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So - If you have people in your life that you respect and that are seeking God and that you learn from and feel encouraged by, be intentional about those relationships.

Cultivate them.

God puts people in our lives for a reason.

And if you desire a Haver and you can’t think of someone who could fit that role, PRAY.

I believe that God desires community for us, and Jesus Himself promises that when we seek things of His will, we will find them.

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I leave you, today, with Shema.

Hear Oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts…talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (HAVERIM). Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and your gates. — deuteronomy.

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Bendecire Tu Nombre.

Baruch Ha-Shem.

Blessed be The Name.