Day 98 with David: God wants His children to be unified.

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing— Life forevermore.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭133:1-3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Most of us are familiar with the story of the Tower of Babel. After the flood, people began to multiply; and they all had one language. These people were unified; but they were unified—not for what was good—but in order to exalt themselves above God.

“And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.””

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭11:4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

It seems that the memory of the flood was fresh in their minds and they decided to have a way to keep themselves from ever again being subject to the judgment of the Lord. The Lord would have none of it.

“And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭11:6-8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I began with the story of what happened at Babel because some people have made unity, per se, a goal, without recognizing that it’s about what we are unified. At Babel, they were walking in unity; and yet the Lord scattered them.

The Nazis, in the day of Hitler, were very unified. But, we can’t believe that their unity is to be admired.

Yes, the Lord wants us to walk in unity. As a matter of fact He prayed to the Father that it would be so:

“that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”

‭‭John‬ ‭17:21-23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Now, we must not miss the way in which we are to be unified, clearly spelled out in this prayer of the Lord. We are in Christ and He is in us. Only Christ makes us unified one with the other in the way pleasing to the Lord. Our hearts are united with one another as we all hold the things of His heart dear. If that is the case, we are all operating with one mind: the mind of Christ.

The logical question at this point would be, why do so many Christians end up fussing and arguing with one another? James gives a very good answer to this question:

“What leads to [the unending] quarrels and conflicts among you? Do they not come from your [hedonistic] desires that wage war in your [bodily] members [fighting for control over you]? You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your lust goes unfulfilled; so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain [the object of your envy]; so you fight and battle. You do not have because you do not ask [it of God].”

‭‭James‬ ‭4:1-2‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Many Christians have not allowed the spirit of God to change the way they interact with others; they deal with their Christian brother in the same way people in the world deal with each other: competing and envying.

“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Yes, the Lord desires that His people dwell together in unity. But the unity He desires is one that is based on our unification with Christ. This will only be made possible when we lay aside our former ways of being and doing and allow the Lord—by His Spirit—to be the mediator/connector in our relationships.

In our portion from Psalms today we see David speaking of how wonderful it is for the brethren to be unified. You see, David had felt the sting and hurt of betrayal from those who should have stood with him. But again, if we all are not seeking the Lord, seeking His heart, and doing His will, that precious unity will be impossible.

For today let us know and understand what David knew:

God wants His children to be unified.

#100dayswithdavid