DAILY READING
DEVOTION / REFLECTION
See How They love One Another!
by Elaine Pierce
I love the first verse of this psalm - it's so positive and encouraging:
How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
Don't we all want life to be like that? No quarrels.....no differences.....everyone happy all the time....but take a look at the second verse:
It [living together in unity] is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.
Huh? If you take a look at Exodus 30:22-30, you will learn more about this 'precious oil.' It was costly, time consuming to make, and rare. It was only to be used for Aaron and his priests.
So unity is a precious thing. It is not to be taken for granted. And I don't know if living in unity necessarily means a lack of conflict. Look at the last verse of this short psalm:
For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
We will receive the Lord's blessing - but that doesn't mean we won't experience strife. An ancient Roman Christian, Tertullian, lived during a time of intense persecution against the church. In 197 AD he wrote a letter to the Roman authorities pleading for justice for the church against cruel opposition. It was a very long letter (50 chapters!) but a quote from this letter endures today. He describes how the church cares for its members like this:
See how they love one another!
Is that what our friends and neighbors say about UALC? May it be so! Lord, we pray for unity in the body of Christ right here in Columbus. May we care for one another in times of need and in times of joy, and may we be a witness to the God who loves us and longs to bring others into his kingdom. Amen.
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