Thought for the Day - Friday 21 May

1 Corinthians 1:10 (New Living Translation) I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. Each passage of scripture I use when preparing thought for the day comes from the website biblegateway.com while others have their own way of choosing passages to write about.  When I saw today’s offering, I was sure I had covered this one before but, in actual fact, it was Caryl who had chosen it on 7th October last year.  I don’t know what it is but this passage seemed so familiar to me and yet, according to my own records, I haven’t covered it.  I guess something must have stuck with me when I read it or heard about it some other time. I’ve found the passages for Monday and Wednesday this week particularly enlightening and thought provoking.  Whether considering God’s riches, wisdom and knowledge and how it can be difficult to take it all in or the purity of God’s wisdom and the human qualities it endorses. Today’s reading brought me back to the disgraceful scenes in Glasgow last Saturday and the headlines referring to religious bigotry.  When I see displays of unruly behaviour by either side of this predominantly West of Scotland so called ‘religious divide’, the principles of Christianity practiced by Jesus and taught by the apostles seem a million miles away.  It takes more than just standing under a banner representing one particular element of the Christian church criticising and antagonising (sometimes in the vilest manner), those that stand under a different banner as part of the same Christian church.  I feel the need to remind us of the nature of God’s wisdom as described in Wednesday’s thought from James 3; It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favouritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. No one has the right to associate themselves with any part of the Christian church unless they can aspire to the types of behaviour advocated in scripture towards friends and strangers alike.  Paul appeals to us with ‘the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ’ to live in harmony with each other and for there to be no divisions within His church.  To deny such an instruction is to deny Jesus himself.   Prayer Lord, we would thank you for this world in which we live, teach us to respect all aspects of your wonderful creation.  Lord, when some of us were young, we were taught about you at school, at church and at home.  Help us get your message out to those of all ages within our communities, that they may experience love and salvation that is freely available.  Amen