Today's Reading: Old Testament: Leviticus 1-3
New Testament: John 17
Focus Verses: John 17:25-26
20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
Insight:
Jesus prayed for his followers to be united. Not just his disciples, but everyone who would believe their message. Unity among Jesus' followers will flow out of their unity with Jesus and the Father. When Christians live in unity, God is glorified, the world believes that Jesus is truly sent from God, and God's love for the world becomes known. If believers do not draw near to God and embrace Jesus' desire for his followers, unity will not be possible. Disunity dishonors God and diminishes any testimony of who Jesus is. God's love cannot be understood by the world if it is not displayed by those who claim to follow Christ.
Response and Action:
I want to experience unity with God and with other believers through Jesus. I will worship, study scripture, serve, pray, and obey God with the intention of knowing God and drawing near. I want to have unity with all Christ-followers through friendship, shared mission, shared worship, and mutual care and concern.
O God, give me, along with all true followers of Jesus, a heart and a will toward unity, so that you would be praised, that Jesus would be believed, and that your saving love would be received in all the world. Amen.
Proverbs: 25:25
Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.
Resources:
Church: Why Bother?
by Philip Yancey
