“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1–3
The past year and a half of living in a pandemic should probably have driven most of us further away from our Savior, if the evil foe had been successful, but for me, I’ve been brought closer while worshipping online with other believers around the country and doing Bible study via Zoom with other congregations as well. And, I didn’t hesitate to share these wonderful services with other believers in hopes that they too would be drawn closer to Jesus when so much of our world was attempting to pulling us away. And now, without a mask and vaccinated, I am hearing that perhaps I am being divisive; by sharing what has drawn me closer is unfortunately causing fellow believers to leave their home church. Forgive me; I’ll stop sharing.
Lord God, Heavenly Father, we realize that the above words from the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus is really straight talk and a much needed wisdom filled message from You: "Preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Your Word doesn't win votes, but it gets attention. It doesn't promise that we'll get our way, but it teaches the truth. Your way is the best way; forbid that we will ever go any other way. Lord, we've tried those ways and they’re always dead-end streets or, if not that, they lead into dangerous swamps. So Father, coming out of this pandemic, we pray that You will give Your people a sense of recommitment to this matter of unity and harmony and purity and love and tolerance and patience through Your words; gentleness, humility and in the bond of peace. May we model that unity, Lord. May we model it when we're at home, when we're in our backyard, when we're back at our workplaces, when we're behind the wheel of our cars with the windows down, when we're doing business, when we're at the grocery store, when we're meeting new friends and any other time that we're given the opportunity to draw another life closer to You. As You grow us up to maturity, grow our roots deep. May our roots deepen as our fruit ripens. Heavenly Father, keep us from falling and being divisive. In the name of Your dear Son. Amen.