Christian Living

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At the risk of being tarred and feathered, I have to say what I'm about to say because of the fire that burns within me. It may go against the grain and be a difficult decision to make, but if we would follow Jesus, we must not ascribe nationalism a number one priority. The only group status that we can safely embrace as supreme in our lives is Christian--a member of the Body of Christ. Every other designation or description of who we are must fall behind this one. And love and loyalty to country is close behind, but it must never supersede. The Book says that every man out of every nation that obeys His will is accepted of Him. That makes the Body of Christ global, not territorial; universal, not provincial. That of necessity lifts our eyes from our personal geography to encompass what God sees. And when God states His will for our lives, he is addressing all of us regardless of where we live: the divisions are ours, not His. So when Jesus proclaimed His number one commandment: Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and the second one like unto it, Love one another as I have loved you--He meant all of us. And neither of those is a suggestion--both are absolute commands. So these guiding, motivating principles must undergird every life philosophy and decision that we embrace if we would be part of the Body of Christ. Again, no option to select one group of people over another. If the life of Christ illustrated anything, it was His complete disregard of national origin as He dealt with people.

All of that to say that our prayers should encompass all people since He said He was not willing that any be lost, but that all should come to repentance and knowledge of the truth--that spreads our responsibility planet-wide. Our constant fervent prayer must be for His will to be done in all the earth.

And God's overriding, superseding will is for us to love Him and love one another. Simply true and truly simple, but it brooks no misunderstanding or argument--only submission or rejection. And it's the absolute only way to peace on earth. Even though this may be a lonely position to take, crowds are not always right.

"For there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, bond nor free, for we are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28

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