17 June 2008

Unity and Brotherhood


"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

(John 13:34-35)


The other day, I was following behind a motorcyclist going down the road. And as we came up on an oncoming motorcyclist, I began to grin in anticipation.

And sure enough. Just as they got close up to one another, each of the men stuck their arm out in that low, expected greeting. And I don't know why, but this is just one of those crazy little things that makes me smile to see! I love the sense of comradery! Brotherhood! Solidarity. Like: "I don't know who you are or where you're going, Man, but I'm with ya!"

Maybe you've never noticed, but Jeep Wrangler drivers have the same kind of 'code'. I'm sure I never would've noticed myself if my sister hadn't driven one several years back. I never thought to ask her if it was actually in the owner's manual, but just watch... they all know to wave to each other!!! It's so cool!

Makes me want to say: "I want that!! Alright, all you Toyota Camry drivers ~ heaven knows there are enough of us out here... we need a secret 'hand-shake' of our own on the road!! We can't just let the Jeep people and motocyclists have all the fun! C'mon!! I feel left out here!"

But, no need to feel left out.

I belong to another brotherhood. The Christian brotherhood.

It was so funny. The same day that I noted the unity of biker guys on the highway, I came to this page in my new devotional:



Love for Others

Jesus told His disciples that He loved them as much as His Father loved Him, and this is how they should love one another. If they will love one another, everyone will know that they are His disciples (see John 13:35). Jesus prayed fervently for their unity (see John 17:21). If we show the world the love that was in God for Christ and in Christ for us, the world would experience Christianity as being genuine. This is exactly what happened. There was no love lost among all the nations of the world. The Greeks, Romans, Jews, and the heathens all hated one another. The idea of self-sacrifice was strange to them. When the heathens saw that Christians from various nations became one through the power of the Holy Spirit, with self-sacrifice in times of need and illness, they were amazed and exclaimed, "See how these people love one another!" Among professing Christians there are feelings of unity and brotherhood, but the heavenly love of Jesus is often lacking. We do not bear one anoher's burdens - or is it rather that we do not love others? Pray that you may love your fellow believers in the same way that Christ loves you. If you remain in Christ's love, and let that love fill your heart, you will receive the power to love all God's children. The bond of love between all God's children should be as close as the bond between the Father and the Son, and between Christ and His followers. (Andrew Murray: In His Daily Presence)


And may we always, without fail, when passing another Christian on the road of life, gently say in some way: "I may not know who you are or where you are going, Man, but you just rest assured... I am with you."

After all, we've been instructed in our 'Owner's manual' - right there in chapter John.

6 comments:

Brad and Shana said...

I just love your posts......I love your cool graphics and you always pick great songs to put an exclamation point at the end of an already great statement.

Well said....and a great reminder!

How do you like your new Andrew Murray devotional? It seems he just really lays it out there for us. Maybe I need to have a "back up" for my Streams.....

Jess said...

Thank you, Shana!
*I must give props to art.com for most of my images. When I don't know where else to go, I usually end up there.*
You know, I really do like my new Andrew Murray devotional. It's simple, but good little lessons. I think I just reached the point with "Streams" where I needed something not quite so heavy. You know? That's not to say I'll let it get too far from me! That thing has been such a 'life-line' to me! Just needed something fresh and new right now.

~jessica

Chanda Canup said...

Really great post, Jess. I completely identify!

And thanks for your comments...always! You are big encouragement on the journey:)

Grace and Peace.

Dianne said...

Great post! And I've never noticed that about motorcyclists before, but I will from now on!

Kelli said...

Jessica! It's me Kelli. I want to thank you for your encouragement on my blog. You amaze me that you take the time to lift me up. God is so good for bringing you into my life. It was so strange (not really), really a God thing that you shared the blog about Audrey. A friend had shared that on her blog and I read it while in Iowa. I was just about to share it with a friend of mine whose sister lost her baby at 9 days. Well I really just wanted to say thanks! A friend recently reminded me that the most precious gift we can give someone is time. Thank you for giving of your time to me!

Dianne said...

Hey. I told you I was going to watch for it and sure enough, I got behind a motorcycle at a red light on the way to work the other day. As soon as the light turned, another motorcycle was heading toward us and they did that low wave thing....I just had to grin! FUNNY!