A Call to Unity

S: Mark 13:13 – And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
O: Jesus is speaking of the end times and of the persecution of Christians. He is encouraging us to endure to the end because no matter what we go through the Kingdom of God awaits us.
A: This verse spoke to my heart this morning. Why? Because I believe it is a call to unity. Every where you look you see lost, hurt and broken people. And I’m not talking about just outside the church. There are people I look at every day who are hurting and yet I choose to not see their hurt. Not because I don’t care but because I am focused on my needs or the needs of my ministry and I make a choice to not see, to not slow down, to not speak an encouraging word or touch them in some way. I see people who have hurt deeply by the words or actions of their “church family”. I see people leaving their churches in droves because of hurts and offenses that have not been addressed. And you know what? If I can see them so can non-believers. So can visitors to our churches. This verse tells me Christians will be persecuted and times will be tough for all believers before Jesus returns. I can’t do this alone. I have tried time and time again and failed miserably. I need fellow believers to walk this journey with. The early church was united and withstood great persecution. Will we? We need to look past ourselves and needs and desires and dreams and get a look at the big picture – God’s picture. We need to put aside our hurts and our need for control and start coming together as God’s army. We are battling not only for our own lives but for the very life of the church.
P: Father God forgive me. I can be so selfish sometimes. I see only my needs and the needs of my ministry and I don’t take the time to see how what I do or say might impact someone else or another ministry. Father God I have spent enough time of my life hurting myself and others. I want to unify. I want to glorify you. Help me to take my eyes of myself and my needs and desires and focus on YOU. Only then do I have a chance of enduring to the end so that I may see you face to face.