May the mumbling commence!
God wants obedient and upright living. What else does God call us to do? We are called to stick together as brothers and sisters of the faith.
What a call! Stick together. That is easier said than done. There are almost too many divisions and denominations and church splinters to count. Stick together – through thick and thin. Our division only makes the devil smile. Read from First John chapter two (from the New American Bible translation):
They went out from us, but they were not really of our number; if they had been, they would have remained with us. Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number. (Verse 19)
To desert your faith family is not an option. We must remain with one another. To remain with our Christian brothers and sisters is to abide with God. Remain and abide – these are important action verbs of the faith. Remain and abide. We see these words often in the letter and gospels accredited to John.
Remaining together… what can keep us together when issues and attitudes and personalities can drive us so easily apart? Jesus is the answer. Jesus keeps us together. We have Jesus in common. Really nothing else matters.
To remain together with our Christian brothers and sisters means to confess the Christ. By staying together, we confess Christ not only in our midst but also to those on the outside looking in. Other people will look at us in our diversity and wonder how we can stick together – how we can get anything done together.
When people wonder, we should answer them emphatically, “It is not us but Jesus.” To confess the Christ is a command of the Father. See another passage from First John chapter two (the same translation as the one above):
No one who denies the Son has the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well. (Verse 23)
Be obedient to God. Live upright lives. Stick together. Confess Christ Jesus.
Now, we are working up a good list of what it means to obey God’s commands.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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