Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Called to Unity


Stacy Daniel
St. John's MTC, NY

They will be my people, and I will be their God.”

 
Ezekiel is given a prophesy that unites Israel and Judah.  The people of Judah and Israel strayed from God and lived in sin.  This lack of God led to their exile under the Assyrians and the Babylonians. Now God is ready to bring the two nations into one and speaks through Ezekiel. God shows His unconditional love by promising to bring the Israelites back home.  He will cleanse them from all the sins they have committed and finally states " they will be my people and I will be their God." He reclaims them with this covenant. One of the many examples of God’s love, that is seen in the Bible.
 
The prophecy continues to the New Testament in Paul's letter to Ephesians (2:19-20). “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone."
 
Divisions exist between Christians, between churches and within churches, and even among nations.  But that's not the vision that God wants for His children. God wants all His people to be unified, free from sin, free from divisions, and under one God.
 
Reflect on divisions that exist in our lives and around us. What caused these divisions to form and grow? Divisions are formed when an idea of superiority exists.  Do we forget that we are all sinners and that we are all equal in God's eyes? When we see Christ as the cornerstone, we focus on His unconditional love and sharing that love with others.  Now apply the love of God in all these divisions.  We lose this idea of being superior.  As Christians that is our call- to live in unity with Christ.

PRAYER

Father, use us as Your instruments to recognize divisions and unify those areas that are broken and divided.  Help us to remember that our ultimate goal is to be one body in Christ Jesus. Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
"Whatever disunites man from God also disunites man from man". -Edmund Burke 

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