SCRIPTURE: Philippians 2:1-2 (CEB) – larger reading Philippians 2:1-11
Therefore, if there is any
encouragement in Christ, any comfort in love, any sharing in the Spirit, any
sympathy, complete my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, being
united, and agreeing with each other.
STORY:
A. W. Tozer writes: Has it ever occurred to you that one
hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each
other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another
standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers
[meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to
each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious
and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.
OBSERVATION:
Unless you have been living
under a rock for the last many years it will come as no surprise that we are a
divided society. Most of the men and women on the great divide claim Christ as
their savior. Let me surmise as to how we got to this state: We have taken our
eyes off of Christ, the great unifier.
I believe it was John Wesley
who said: “If your heart belongs to Christ give me your hand and we will walk
together.” If he didn’t say it he could
have given his belief in the powerful catholic spirit which should drive all
hearts and minds into one body.
Lent stands as a 40-day
journey were we once again begin to allow the spirit of Christ to dwell in our
hearts allowing the Holy Spirit to unite us in a bond of love. Anything less
denies his resurrection and simply nails Jesus to the cross all over again.
Matthew 5:23-24 (TM) - "This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If
you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly
remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave
immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come
back and work things out with God. is often quoted, but seldom followed.
Bring
society has to start someplace. It should start with those who say they follow
Jesus. Lent is a great time to start since it is a season of repentance and
reconciliation.
We
all want a God-centered reconciliation. We desire our relationship with Christ
to be rock solid. That which stands in our way is our relationship with those
on the other side of the divide. By keeping our eyes fixed on God we will
automatically move closer to each other. It is called grace!
PRAYER:
Our desire is unity. We long
for ones in spirit and in truth. We hate it when we out of sorts with our
brothers and sisters in Christ. Bring us together Lord, bring us together.
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