“and day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, the received their food with glad and generous hearts” [acts 2:46]
if you’ve never been to a preschool soccer or football game, you really should go sometime. it can be quite entertaining! most of the time, there’s not a whole lot of teamwork or unity. it can be pretty chaotic at times, there’s always the one kid who gets the ball and takes off in a dead sprint for the opposite team’s goal, or the other one who stands in the middle of the field and is content just observing the game unfold around them. the entire time there’s coaches, parents and siblings yelling from the sidelines trying to get them to work together, have teamwork, pass the ball or at least score in the right goal!
the chaos that ensues every time a preschool game starts comes from a lack of unity, most of the time, everyone’s got their own idea of what they want to do or what they think is fun. they lack a unity of commitment, each kid is committed to their own goal and not the collective goal of working as a team to win the game.
likewise, chaos ensues when we as believers aren’t unified in our commitment to the gospel. there are so many commitments that pull and tug on our hearts on a daily basis, be it work or finances or relationships. there’s never a lack for things that try to pull our attention and commitment away from each other in the gospel. our hearts must be united first and foremost to Christ in the gospel and then because our hearts are united to Christ and committed to him, we’re also united to each other.
and like it says here, this is something that’s “day by day” unity, my friends is a daily battle. its not something that you do once and then you’re done. it’s a battle, it’s something we must daily fight for.
the only way this daily battle for unity is fought and won is through a unified commitment. we must have the same goal, we must be pursuing the same objective. just like a soccer game with 11 people going in 11 different directions, unity doesn’t work if everyone is pursuing their own commitments.
so let’s join together today and every day, with one heart and one focus. an overwhelming, all consuming, unified commitment to our savior, to the gospel and to each other. brothers and sisters united in the gospel, for his glory and praise.
~ josiah bridges