Unity

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing - life forever." Psalm 133

This morning the Lord led me to ponder what unity really meant to the church body. I found it interesting that when I looked up the word unity that it pretty much fit into the above verse. Unity is "The state or quality of being on; singleness. The state or quality of being in accord; harmony. The singleness or constancy of purpose or action; continuity."

Psalm 133 states how important it is that we all dwell together in unity. My study notes on this chapter say of the oil coming down upon Aaron's beard and the edge of his robes, "The oil of Aaron's anointing saturated all the hair of his beard and ran down on his priestly robes, signifying his total consecration to holy service. Similarly, brotherly harmony sanctifies God's people."

My study notes say of the dew of Hermon, "A dew as profuse as that of Mount Hermon would make the mountains of Zion richly fruitful. So would brotherly unity make Israel richly fruitful. The two similes are well chosen: God's blessings flowed to Israel through the priestly ministrations at the sanctuary - epitomizing God's redemptive mercies - and through heaven's dew that sustained life in the field - epitomizing God's providential mercies in the creation order."

Unity is something that is often hard to obtain. It refers to a body of people and yet, through my experience, I realized that it really starts within us. We can make or break unity by our choices, by what we allow into our lives and how we conduct ourselves. If we are not in the Word, studying it, reading it and memorizing it, we become parched and dry. You may think that what you do or don't do won't affect anyone else. But what you don't realize is that it is the core of how unity is made or broken.

If you are parched you can't produce or maintain much for very long. It's kind of like a desert. Even in it's driest seasons a desert can produce life but it's hard to sustained it. Yet, when we are walking with the Lord and taking steps to be like Him we are like the dew that covered Mount Hermon and produced life all around it. That kind of life is contagious and spreads and draws people to be as one.

What are you like lately? Are you wallowing in the desert and making conditions around you dry and desolate? Or are you like dew dropping on those around you causing life and bonding? Unity is not someone else's job. It's your job and starts with you.

Krista Jones
4.10.08

Bible Reading Guide:

Beginning to End: Job 8-10
Old and New Testaments Together: 2 Chron. 19-20 & John 13:21-38
Historical: Ezek. 13-15
Chronological: Proverbs 1-3
Blended: Hos. 9-11 & Matthew 19

The Bible reading guides will be taken from Back to the Bible