One In Christ

John 17:22-23

One In Christ

     “And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me.”

     What does it mean to be one with Jesus and our Heavenly Father? Let us consider what it would be like if you went to grab a glass of water and your hand picks up the spoon next to it. Your hand has disregarded your body’s desire for a drink and decided it liked the feel of holding a spoon. This is kind of a funny illustration but we have been called the body of Christ and He is our head. For us to work as one body the head of the body must direct the rest for the good of the entire body. To be one in Christ is to be of the same mind, heart, and action with Him. His desire is our delight to carry out. Everything we do affects the entire body of Christ and when we are stubbornly set in our earthly pursuits, refusing to let go, it can have consequences that can take a long time to recover from.

     We need to look more closely at what this signifies in terms of the unity Jesus has said we are to have with our brothers and sisters. The comfort of the entire body is dramatically altered when all of its members are working together under the leadership of the head. Caring for one another, bearing with one another’s faults, and forgiving one another, is the muscle and tissue that keeps us together. Having hearts set on helping one another everyday should be an active thing rather than waiting for something bad to befall a neighbor before we feel any kind of need to help them. Our love and concern should not be cause and affect but continuous. 

     This is significant because it pulls us out of ourselves and into a life of service and blessing to everyone around us. If we let it, everyday will consume us with pursuits for our own gain, and concern for our neighbors, family, and friends will be forgotten. It is so easy to get caught up in these things that we don’t even notice. To be one with Jesus is to be filled with His love for everyone around us and to find ways to help them. To be one with Him is to seek His plan for our lives so that we can be doing the job that will most benefit the body of Christ. To be one with Him is to be filled with the joy of serving Him and seeing Him work through our lives.

     So I want to encourage all of you today to earnestly seek His plan for your life. It can be hard to lay down your earthly ambitions in order to do this but only someone who is truly willing to do whatever God’s plan is will receive His plan for their lives and carry it out. You cannot want your own plan and His because invariably your plan will hinder the effectiveness of His plan and the two will get in the way of each other. We cannot be divided when we serve God, but must serve Him with our whole heart. When we have committed all our heart and all our life to Him, His joy and excitement will come pouring into us to the point where we cannot even contain it.
    God desires to fill your life with excitement and the most amazing adventure, but it requires counting the cost of what you are going to let go of. His plan for your life will fill the rest of your life. It is all or nothing and will not be joyful and exciting unless you have committed everything to Him.
     So let us renew our commitment to Him and serve one another joyfully. Encouraging one another and spurring one another on to greater works in Christ!           God bless you all!