2 Kings 18; Philemon; Hosea 11; Psalm 132-134
Psalm 133:1: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.”
How truly good and pleasant it is. Jesus prayed for the unity of the church as his time on earth was drawing to an imminent end. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”- John 17:20-23 (ESV)
I do not often think of the result of unity in those terms: “that the world may know that God sent Jesus and loves us even as He loved His own son.” Apparently there is more to unity than just the peace that comes from living in harmony. Like so much of the Christian life-there is another level to it in the grand scheme of things. That makes our call to unity even stronger-it is yet another way “that the world may know.”
Grace, peace, and mercy,
Debra