There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6 NRSV)
There is much encouragement in God’s Word that our heavenly Father desires for His children to live in love and unity with one another. Yet, doing so can be difficult in many ways, both within our individual faith communities and the universal church. Sometimes, we have differing ideas about the affairs of the church; how and when to proceed with the church’s activities and who should be involved in doing them. Sometimes, we disagree about things such as music, liturgy and vision, but through this passage of Scripture, God reveals the things that we should be focusing on, as the basis of our unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Several months ago, a change in my husband’s work schedule necessitated a change to the location where we attend worship services. Our regular faith community began worship at the precise time that Bruce was due to begin his work day. As a result, we have had opportunity to become better acquainted with some of our brothers and sisters in Christ in a different faith community, where we have been fellow-shipping during this time.
What a wonderful place of blessing we are experiencing! We continue to embrace the relationships that we’ve known for some time in our regular faith community, and also, the relationships which have been newly birthed in the faith community that we are a part of for this season of life.
As we reflect on Ephesians 4:4-6, verse 6 reminds us that one of the factors of our unity should be that we acknowledge there is, “one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” It’s exciting to see God’s presence and movement in the lives of His children in this manner, wherever that may be.
God’s family is vast, but there’s no limit to its capacity. He’s willing to welcome you as His son or daughter at any time…all you need to do is say, “Here I am.”
