Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

The Accepting Christ
Ezekiel 37:15-23
Vs 23 “They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”
In today’s world, sometimes our busy lives can prevent us from stepping into someone else’s shoes and understanding how our actions affect them. In fact, when things don’t go our way or something inconveniences us, we may even go as far as fighting with others and starting issues that ruin relationships and hurt someone’s feelings. Our focus to make things go the way we want them to can prevent us from working with others and compromising in order to come together. Scottish philosopher David Hume said, “It's when we start working together that the real healing takes place. It's when we start spilling our sweat, and not our blood.” By sacrificing our pride and comfort, we can finally step into someone else’s shoes and see the world from their perspective. This new point of view can help us better work together towards a common goal.
As Christians, this common goal is to do God’s will on this earth. However, we cannot do this alone. 1 Corinthians 12:14 reminds us that “For the body is not one member, but many.” In essence, this statement clearly sums up that the body of Christ, meaning all of God’s people, are a team. We are strongest when working together in unity. Teamwork is the key to living life in harmony so that we can do God’s will. In today’s passage from Ezekiel 37, we can see that by God’s instruction, Ezekiel found two sticks and he wrote the name of Judah on one and the name of Joseph (Israel) on the other. The two sticks represented the two kingdoms that had been divided over many political and religious issues over 350 years before Ezekiel lived. This division was deep-seated and well-practiced by his time. God asked Ezekiel to hold these two sticks together so that they were one in his hand. Although it did not seem likely that these two nations would reconcile, God commanded, “There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.” This reconciliation and unity is only possible when we remember that divisions, wounds, and barriers just don’t count for much when they are covered by the hand of God. In the same way, we need to go out and reconcile our issues and instead, work together to glorify God in all that we do.

 
PRAYER
Father God, thank for giving us another day to do your work on this earth. Give us the strength to reconcile our differences with others and work together in unity to do your will and glorify you in everything that we do. Amen.
 
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
“We should always look upon ourselves as God's servants, placed in God's world, to do his work; and accordingly labor faithfully for him; not with a design to grow rich and great, but to glorify God, and do all the good we possibly can.” - David Brainerd

Steven Tom, St. James MTC, NY
Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church

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