Today, October 24th, is United Nations Day. In April of 1945, at the close of World War II, nations (50, to be exact) gathered in San Francisco and founded the UN. While the UN organization has accomplished much good in its seventy-eight-year history, one thing they have not accomplished is unity. What is true for an organization composed now of 193 nations / sovereign states is also true for the nation of which I am a citizen. I am thankful to be an American and I desire not to be a citizen of a different nation. However, we are not a perfect country. One needs a mere glance at any digital or print media to discover our flaws. One flaw is the one we share with every other nation – the aforementioned lack of unity. Red ridicules Blue; Blue berates Red. One ethnic group says to another, “I don’t appreciate you” or, most likely, worse. Social “classes” clash. Etc. Here I could rightly state that Jesus is the great unifier. However, no one is suggesting that everyone in this world will fully follow Jesus or that even all Christians will get along. As with nations, so – tragically – with the Church. What’s wrong? In a word, sin. At the invitation of Adam and Eve, sin entered the world.
Adam and Eve discovered shame and covered. Cain discovered jealousy and murdered. Ham discovered his father’s nakedness and laughed. The Israelites doubted and longed to return to Egypt. And so forth, on and on . . . Until Jesus returns and sets all things right, sin will remain in this world – in your life and mine. Should we then settle for contentment and simply accept things as they are? Certainly not! What then should we do? Peter, the disciple of Jesus, provides a God-inspired answer.
Unity is lacking and will be so until Jesus returns. In the meantime, we can actually make things a bit better step-by-step and word-by-word if we will “make every effort.” Faith saves. And faith enjoys companions – goodness, knowledge, self-control, etc. Whether you are good at math or not, God calls you to add – to “add to your faith.” Not so you can somehow be more “saved” but that you may make this Genesis Three World a bit better. Let’s get to adding. #ordinarylives
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