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God's Words For US
by Cecelia Lester
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
With the events of this past week, I have been thinking a lot about the labels we put on one another. Our nation lost a great statesman when God called John McCain home. He did something unusual that we need to emulate in other aspects of our lives. He made friends of people who held different philosophies about how our government should work.
The apostle Paul wrote the words of our focus verse. He pointed out to the Galatian believers that there should be no division between the nationalities (neither Jew nor Greek, between the status of people (neither free nor slave), between the genders (neither male nor female). Paul then tells them that they are all one in Christ Jesus.
In 1996, the African nations of Rwanda and Burundi went through a genocide. The Hutu and the Tutsi tribes were rose up against one another and a slaughter ensued. I heard a story of a pastor who had both tribes represented in his congregation who had been asked to identify the members of each tribe. His response was wonderful. I went something like this, “I don’t know. I only know them as Christians.”
We believe that there are no denominations in heaven- no corners for the Baptists, or the Methodists, or the Presbyterians, or the Episcopalians, or the Catholics. We will all get along in heaven. Why can’t we get along down here, as we worship God?
The church we attend was formed by a merger of two sister churches in our town. A dear friend, who is now with the LORD, told me in a phone conversation that we needed to refrain from thinking of the people from the other church as “them” and thinking of those from our former church as “us.” This way of thinking has worked for the 12 years the new church has been in existence.
Our lawmakers and governing officials need to learn that we all want to see our nation and our world in better shape. Why can’t they all work together? Can we pray about our nation and our world that we all might be able to work together for the greater good of our world here and for the Kingdom of God?
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Cecelia Lester has been serious about her writing for over two decades..
She composes Christian essays and posts them to her blog quietspirit-followingmyking.blogspot.com/
She has served in a faith-based organization, Grace In Action by writing two newsletters and searching for possible grants.
In July 2017, she published her first book, 'Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy.'
She and her husband of 54 years live in central Indiana. They have one grown son.
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