December 2
The LORD said, “Behold, they are one people… and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” (from Genesis 11:6)
How powerful is unity? God, Himself, tells us. From His Own words in Genesis 11 we see that unity is the door to possibility, in impossibility. A unified people can accomplish any task. A people with one mind and soul can do things that can’t be done. God declares this – because God knows this.
And so does the enemy of God.
It is why he works so diligently to keep us separate and self-righteous. Let’s face it… we are separated because we want to be – we choose to be – and we feel we are completely justified in doing so.
It is not God that is stirring this within us – it is one who is sworn to destroy the work of God in us. If He can’t keep us from committing to Christ, he strives to keep us from committing to each other. He realizes that there is power in unity and he seeks to unravel anything that would bring us together.
And he doesn’t even have to work that hard at it.
It is we ourselves who have settled into our disunity. We see it as a badge of honor. We are “more right than they are.” As if right is all that matters.
Sure, the truth is important. It is essential. But so is grace. Sometimes in all our efforts to be right, we forget that grace is also essential.
We need to remember that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8) The gift of a God who looked at people who were dead set against Him and loved them to the point of the gift of the death of His Son. It was not the truth that saved us – it was grace. It was God’s gracious act of love to bring all of us orphans into His Family.
This is where unity must begin… we are ALL saved by grace. Not because we deserved it, or earned it – we were just the objects of God’s infinite love. Which had the power to make enemies into friends.
That is the same power that works in us – no matter what label we wear. The Spirit of God will always call us to unity – because that is what the Author of grace does. He takes the separated and brings them together under His one banner.
We don’t like to see it this way, but our disunity is an act of disobedience. We value our way more than God’s way. We value truth more than we value grace. It seems we value “throwing out babies with the bathwater.”
We are more committed to the reasons why we can’t be together, than the one reason we can be. We can always find things about which we are going to disagree – but we must be driven by the one thing that binds us together… our love for Jesus.
He is the One we must please. And ultimately, He is pleased most when His people work together in unity.
He said it Himself: there is power in a unified people.
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