“For where two or three gather in My name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20 NIV
What an amazing promise: Where two or three gather in His name, He is there among them. This is an important promise that Jesus makes, for a lot of reasons, but first because it reminds us how important community is to Jesus. The Christian philosopher, Blaise Pascal, once famously said that: “One Christian is no Christian.” Or, to put it in more modern terms, Christianity is a team sport. We can’t play this particular game by ourselves. We need each other. Jesus intends for us to share our faith and our life and our journeys together. It is part and parcel of what it means to follow Jesus, to be part of the church He founded. We can’t follow Jesus alone. Following Jesus brings us together, into His community. The Lutheran pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, wrote a whole book about the importance of Christian community, called “Life Together.” At the beginning of his book, he writes: “The Christian cannot simply take for granted the privilege of living among other Christians.” He continues: “It is easily forgotten that the community of Christians is a gift of grace from the kingdom of God, a gift that can be taken from us any day.” How true that is. Let us thank God for this privilege of living together in community, of gathering together in Jesus’ name, knowing that when we do, He is among us. It is grace, nothing but grace, that we can do this.
PRAYER THOUGHT
Lord Jesus, thank You for the privilege of belonging to Your family.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the privilege of living together in community, of gathering together in Your name, knowing that when we do, You are among us. AMEN
INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)
Genesis 3:8-24
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