Together

Our family loves getting together, but we do it rarely because we are spread all across the country. When we do succeed in getting a portion of loved ones together in one place, it’s always a special time sharing, laughing, and crying together.

As the family of God, we gather together each week. At least I hope you have that privilege. Let’s not take it for granted. There are some who are restricted by health or government, but most of us can gather. Why? Because we need each other and we belong together.

I was meditating Sunday morning on some Scripture passages about the picture of the varying parts of the body. And then the pastor’s message was about that very same thing. The people of God are united into a group called Christ’s body. Each part is important. Some visible, some hidden, but all important.

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ,” Paul said in I Corinthians 12:12. A few verses later he said, I think with a little humor: “Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be” (I Corinthians 12:15-18, NIV).

We can’t miss the point, can we? We each have a job to do. We need each other. We needn’t be jealous of another’s position in the body. We are a united whole. We belong together. That applies to both the whole body of Christ, as well as the local assembly to which we belong.

The traditional statement at the end of the exchange of wedding vows is, “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” Or separate. What God intended for a marriage, He also planned for His body. To be united, not separated. It’s too bad that some people seem bent on destroying unity. What can we do to promote togetherness?

“Let love guide your life, for then the whole church will stay together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14, Living Bible). Now that’s getting down to basics. Isn’t that the best place to start?

“Together” from “Songs of Hope”