“It is impossible to live in unity with God and division with others.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – July 10, 2021
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24, ESV
It is impossible to live in unity with God and division with others. One cannot offer true worship to God without first seeing the inescapable connection between heavenly worship and earthly relationships. The Lord is present at the altar, yet he is also present at the backyard BBQ, coffee hour after church, and in the carpool line. Everything is spiritual.
When we fail to see this, we live under the illusion that life can be neatly separated and categorized. My professional life is over there, my family life over here, and my life with God is entirely my own private business, having nothing to do with work or family. Yet what if your life with God is meant to be just that? Life. All of life, every breath you take, every thought you think, every decision you make, lived in reference to Christ and under his guiding hand? How would this change your day-to-day rhythms of life?
In Matthew 5, Jesus calls out the danger of living a disintegrated life, a temptation that was as alive and well in his day as it is in our own! Do not be tempted, he says, to think you can live with hardened anger and bitterness towards a member of the family of God and it not affect your life with God. To be at peace with God, we must daily strive to live reconciled and united to his people.
As he says this, our Lord Jesus reminds us of another truth that we so easily forget: ours is a communal faith. Never does the Bible imagine your life with God as an entirely private or isolated relationship. At every turn, from the Old Testament to the New, the journey of faith is always envisioned as a shared experience, the family of God on mission together as they encounter God’s love and share it with the world. Until we begin to see this and passionately embrace the gift of a communal faith, our relationship with God will be anemic and cut off from the rest of our lives.
It is the “rest of your life” that the Lord longs to heal and restore, so with joy and excitement, welcome this healing into your heart, and into your life with others.
Prayer
Father, help me to see your hand at work in every part of life, believing it is there to bring healing and restoration to everything that is bent and broken, we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Application
What does it look like for you to leave your gift at the altar and seek reconciliation with your brother or sister in the faith?
Related Reading
Psalm 25:11; Mark 11:25; Colossians 3:13
Worship Resource
The Brilliance: Brother
Donate
If you are blessed by these daily devotionals please prayerfully consider a donation to support Wisdom Hunters Resources. We are trusting the Lord for His provision.
Download our app!
