Day 38 - Issue 32
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Acts 4:32 NLT
'All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.'
Unity creates an atmosphere of trust and harmony. Within such an atmosphere, remarkable things become possible. I grew up with stories from my mother of life in Britain during the Second World War. The war years affected her from age 14 to 20. She lived away from London, but close to Plymouth, which as a naval port, suffered from enemy bombing. Yet, it was not the inconvenience or danger of war she spoke most of, it was more the way her local community came together and cared for each other. The war had united them in heart and mind, and consequently they shared freely with one another in a common goal.
When there is no visible threat, it is easy to become consumed with my own interests. Individuals and families are shocked and appalled when some interruption to their plans breaks in, such as an unwelcome illness. There is usually little motivation to pull together. Indeed, much of our social and economic narrative promotes the idea of individual responsibility to make one’s way in life. Those who fail to do so, for whatever reason, run the risk of being labelled as scroungers and parasites. We are not building a kind society, it seems.
We are citizens of heaven and as such, a community with a shared purpose and a common enemy. Our success, as with Britain when facing seemingly impossible odds in the Second World War, is to pull together and enter into “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:10-16), which is God’s call and gift to us. We are individuals, with the uniqueness that accompanies our individuality, yet we are called to join the family of God, clearly expressed through the Church. Our responsibility is not to engage in endless internecine war with each other, but to collaborate in defeating our common foe.
QUESTION: Are you in one heart and mind with fellow Christians and working to defeat God’s enemy, the accuser of humanity?
PRAYER: I want to found my life on the character and teachings of Christ – help me to love God first and to love my neighbour as myself.
Released on 21 Feb 2020
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