Tuesday; November 12

As Jesus was preparing His disciples for His death, He sat them down and had a pretty straightforward discussion with them.  The most detailed description of this meeting is found in the Gospel of John.  While there are several topics discussed, a couple of them should definitely catch our eye.  The first one is “love”.  When Jesus prepared His disciples for taking His religion public He told them, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35).  Not long after that, when He was praying for the future of His believers, He laid out the plan for unity by asking, “… that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:21).  Love and unity would not only be a requirement for Christianity, but it would also be how people (even outsiders) would be able to identify His church. 

What do we think the world thinks of us when those of us who claim to be Christians refuse to get along?  How do they see the Lord’s church when we reject sacrificial love and practice partisan selfishness?  Maybe a more important question is what does Jesus think of us when we do those things?  Sure, I hope that the world will see us as Christians, but I am more concerned about whether Jesus recognizes us as His disciples! 

Think About It!

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