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Mar 24, 2025 06:00am

A Call to Unity

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My sister and I are only two years apart. That can either make you super close or brutal enemies. For us as kids, it was the latter.

We fought like cats and dogs. We’d argue over just about anything. One squabble in particular was recurring. She, being the older of us two, would have things I didn’t. I’d be playing with a toy of hers or wearing a shirt or pair of shorts of hers, and she would demand it back.

Me: “But you don’t even play with it anymore.”

Her: “I don’t care. It’s mine and I want it back.”

Me: “But you don’t even want it!”

Her: “Again, ask yourself if I care. It belongs to me.”

It’s a common occurrence with kids. I’m sure you’ve had the same argument or broken up a fight between your own children over this topic.

Romans 11:7-14

“7 What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened,
8 as it is written: ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear, to this very day.’
9 And David says: ‘May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.’
Ingrafted Branches
11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.
12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!
13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry
14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.”

God’s chosen people were the Israelites, the Jews. He gave them His Word, His prophets, His blessings, His miracles, but it wasn’t enough for them. Many of them rejected Him. Because of that, He punished them by removing their ability to see the truth and repent. In essence, they said, “Leave me alone, God!” So, He gave them what they wanted.

And if they didn’t want Him, He would find a people group that did. He offered the salvation the Jews discarded to the Gentiles, and they gladly accepted.

This infuriated the Jews.

It wasn’t even that they wanted God, or the relationship He offered, they just didn’t want the Gentiles to have it.

In verse 11, Paul had a vision of a church where Gentiles and Jews would worship together, united in their love for Christ, and serve together. No longer would people rely on their Jewish name or their ability to keep the law for forgiveness, they would look to Christ alone as their Lord and Savior.

Don’t we long for this? For brothers and sisters to be united in their love for Jesus and desire to serve Him? Sometimes our actions say something different.

We might look at another person and say, they don’t belong here. Jesus couldn’t save someone like that. They don’t even know how to act in church.

Well, let’s stop talking about them and show them. Show them the truth about Jesus and what His Word says, not tradition.

If we want to be on mission for Christ, then we need to humbly accept that His mission includes all the world – every tribe, tongue, and nation. Every social class, regardless of position or prestige. When Jesus said “the world” He meant it.

It’s time to share this beautiful gift of salvation with the lost. It’s time to take those that are new believers and show them how to follow Jesus. Go to follow.lifeword.org.