WE ARE ONE IN THE SPIRIT
By Gil Crosby, Moderator – Illinois-Wisconsin District
“Satan uses our words to divide us.”
Right after Christmas I held my three week old Grandson in my arms for the first time. What a moment of awe and joy. Someone famous once said , “There is nothing so satisfying as holding a sleeping baby in your arms.” He arrived early just a little over five pounds in weight but his little human features were perfect miniatures of God’s image. I can honestly say his little body didn’t touch the crib as long as a Grandma or Grandpa was in the house.
A lady in our Church once asked why God sent Jesus to us as a baby and not some other age. That got me to thinking about all kinds of possibilities. If He had arrived as a teenager, obviously knowing everything, He could have ended up challenging everybody and arguing about how to live his life People would have dismissed him as a poor, misguided youth trying to find himself.
Suppose Jesus would have been put on earth as a full grown man, full of wisdom and knowledge. He could have gone immediately to the temple and debated with the scholars of the day refuting all their traditions and rules. They would bounce out the front door as a know-9t-all nut case or thrown him in the pokey until he saw things their way.
But every body loves a baby. We stare at them in amazement and wonder and make funny noises and faces. They are so helpless and depend on us for their every need. Babies instinctively trust whoever holds them and know that they will be fed and cared for. Jesus said we must be born again and come to the Father as children.
I don’t think when Jesus said we should become as children that he meant that we should have temper tantrums when we don’t get our own way, or sit and pout when someone disagrees with us. Then there is the child who gets mad because you won't play by his rules and takes his stuff and goes home.
As God’s children we should be little sponges soaking up His knowledge and love. Then we should return that love to those around us, showing others how Brethren Christians display their love for Jesus. Sometimes we as children of God forget what Jesus said in Luke 6:31 “Do unto others as we would have them do to us.” We have to learn to play well with others.
“Satan uses our words to divide us.”Right after Christmas I held my three week old Grandson in my arms for the first time. What a moment of awe and joy. Someone famous once said , “There is nothing so satisfying as holding a sleeping baby in your arms.” He arrived early just a little over five pounds in weight but his little human features were perfect miniatures of God’s image. I can honestly say his little body didn’t touch the crib as long as a Grandma or Grandpa was in the house.
A lady in our Church once asked why God sent Jesus to us as a baby and not some other age. That got me to thinking about all kinds of possibilities. If He had arrived as a teenager, obviously knowing everything, He could have ended up challenging everybody and arguing about how to live his life People would have dismissed him as a poor, misguided youth trying to find himself.
Suppose Jesus would have been put on earth as a full grown man, full of wisdom and knowledge. He could have gone immediately to the temple and debated with the scholars of the day refuting all their traditions and rules. They would bounce out the front door as a know-9t-all nut case or thrown him in the pokey until he saw things their way.
But every body loves a baby. We stare at them in amazement and wonder and make funny noises and faces. They are so helpless and depend on us for their every need. Babies instinctively trust whoever holds them and know that they will be fed and cared for. Jesus said we must be born again and come to the Father as children.
I don’t think when Jesus said we should become as children that he meant that we should have temper tantrums when we don’t get our own way, or sit and pout when someone disagrees with us. Then there is the child who gets mad because you won't play by his rules and takes his stuff and goes home.
As God’s children we should be little sponges soaking up His knowledge and love. Then we should return that love to those around us, showing others how Brethren Christians display their love for Jesus. Sometimes we as children of God forget what Jesus said in Luke 6:31 “Do unto others as we would have them do to us.” We have to learn to play well with others.
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