For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Matthew 18:20 (KJV).

REFLECT:
Who hasn’t heard about this saying, ‘united we stand, divided we fall,’ of course, it is a very popular quotation that can be traced down to the Greek philosophical stories of Aesop and his fables (620-564 BCE).

This quote has been used as both a motivational and a control tool (but more so the latter) down the centuries by political as well as religious leaders to get people behind a common course.

However, as it appears the spirit behind this quote, as noticed for years, has been unable to yield many positive results in unity and this is because in a lot of cases it stems from a place of selfish, self-centered, conceited, and paranoid intelligence, and not from a place of love. This sort of thinking and behavior was what Jesus came to change.

He did not come to sit as a master to control others, but rather, he came to lay down His life for mankind in love. Thereby, Jesus, in doing this, successfully showed, and offered man the true and perfect way to obtain unity, which is by the love of God or through God’s kind of Love. Hence, He demonstrated to man that it is only through the love of God that people can be united as well as maintain a united front together.

Jesus’s prayer in the book of John chapter 17, was a practical demonstration of His passion for unity or having a united front through this kind of Love (Please read John 17, for a clearer and more practical insight on this).

Therefore, Jesus, through His prayer to the Father and His subsequent death on the cross, obtained this great strategy called ‘Love.’ In it, He showed how those (i.e.. His Church or His Body) who have come to believe in and on Him can practically and successfully walk in this Love that He gives to achieve unity and maintain a strong united front.

Furthermore, He caps it all up in a tangible promise that when His Church or Body stands unified as one together, wherever and whenever we meet as a group or in common agreement in His Love, His Divine and Glorious presence will be right with us and in our midst, just as our Bible verse for today rightly tells us.

When we who are called to be the Church and Body of Christ give ourselves fully to understanding the deep intent of God’s Love that Jesus so dearly paid to give, for us to be united in Him, it is only then we can truly experience the full outpouring and workings of His Divine Presence in our midst.

Ebimobo W. Obasi

PLEASE PRAY ALONG:

A Prayer for Unity.

FATHER GOD, I am so thankful that You have united me with a community of believers who love You! Please help us to remain united in times of disruption and difficulty. Continue to unite believers all around the world so that we can share Your good works and faithfulness with others. In JESUS MIGHTY NAME AMEN.