"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."
Bind us together, Lord, bind us together
With cords that cannot be broken
Bind us together, Lord, bind us together
Bind us together with love.
Do you remember singing this song? Do you still sing this song or has this song lost its meaning somewhere along life's journey? I still sing it and probably even more today then when I first sang it as a child. Its a song that most Christian denominations sing in their churches and around church campfires and yet I'm not sure that many take the time to recognize the words being sung. Somewhere along the way we have begun to focus on what divides us versus what binds us together. I can't imagine God the father looking down at his children and being happy about the division that is taking place in the hearts of his precious ones.
I watch as insult after insult is flung across social media pages and by some I would have never expected to see them from. I don't sit in judgment but I sit in bewilderment because to me my Bible, God's word, is an incredible love story written for us to learn from and not repeat the mistakes of our people. Yet, here we are 2015 and we are doing the same things that caused such pain, chaos and destruction that we read about in the scripture. We fail to grasp the love that can bind us together and focus instead on all things that can tear us apart. I can differ in my opinions and beliefs from another and still love them for the heart that beats inside them. I don't have to agree or support someone's ideas or lifestyles to accept and love their heart and the part that they play in this life. God sits in the position of judge when each of us makes that journey home and I for one am thankful that I don't have that responsibility because we are a hot mess of a people.
1 Corinthians: 4-8; "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away." These words are often shared at weddings as we turn our focus on the couple being "bound together in love" but these words apply to each and everyone of us in how we too ask God to bind us together in love. God's word IS love which is the whole point of the song we sing....bind us together Lord in your word, in your love. Its there where we find truth and answers for living life as Christ followers.
I encourage you this week to focus on what binds us all together and not on what tears apart. Instead of focusing on how you differ in your beliefs and thoughts, try to find common ground because its there we can begin to bridge hearts to bind our nation under God again. Its in our unity we find strength and in our division that our enemies find our weakness and exploit it. Let God be God and his word which will never pass away be our guide. I want to have a heart of love that others will seek out and ask about this God that I serve in love. I am to be his hands and feet but in order to do that, others have to see his heart in me...in you. Find again that love that binds us together with cords that cannot be broken.
Who can you reach out to this week in love instead of judgment? Who can you share the heart of Christ with instead of the darkness of hate and condemnation? Can Jesus count on you today to show his love or have you become a resounding gong or clanging cymbal as talked about in 1 Corinthians 13:1? You can be Christ's mouthpiece, but that means you must do so through his love.
Under His Wings,
Heather
