Saturday, June 8, 2013

How Good And Pleasant

John’s second letter to the church has only one chapter. It speaks about how we are to treat one another with love; that this is what we ought to do. Sadly enough, there are many, some who name the name of Jesus, that believe it is their job to decide who is serving God and who is not. Even John says that the test is those staying in the the teachings of Jesus are those that follow God. Part of the teachings are loving others, forgiveness, mercy, and truth. At the end of John’s letter he says he wants to wait to tell them the rest until they see each other face to face, that their joy might be full. Isn’t it interesting that John finds being together with other believers face to face is what it takes to have joy? Psalms 133:1 exclaims, “Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

It appears that God has a plan that has us all together for a reason. It gives us a chance to learn from each other. It gives us a chance to have great joy. This is the doctrine of Jesus – what He was trying to tell us was His way. So, if we separate ourselves from others, or separate others from us, we are not really practicing what He said, right? So the act of pushing others away is an example of not following the teachings of Jesus. And, I think it is possible for us to do this with our words as well. We can draw others close or push them away. A day dedicated to God, like the sabbath, should be a day when our joy can be full, when we can all draw together to worship and praise God.

Prayer
Father, thank You for Your rest. Please put mercy in our hearts for each other. Please help us to not stay away from each other, or keep others from being around us. Please help us to have kind and loving words for each other. In Jesus name. Amen.