2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were
making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled
to God.
There is a story of two guys that lived about 500 yards
from each other’s home. Nobody knows what started the rivalry, but their houses
were on a different streets, so that automatically put them in the category of
“enemy.” They used to shout and call names at each other, throw stones in the
summer, and snowballs in the winter. It went on for years and to this day, nobody
can remember what caused such hatred.
Nobody remembers what stopped it. But they grew weary of
fighting one another and decided to become friends. Instead of shouting at each
other, one asked the other if he collected postage stamps. To his surprise, he did
and they arranged to meet after school to swap our doubles – stamps that thye
had more than one of. From that moment on, they became the best of friends and
were constantly in each other’s company throughout their teenage years. They
had discovered similar interests and given up on fighting. They had buried the
hatchet and reconciled their differences.
I guess that’s what God did when He sent Jesus into the
world. He took on our similarities and gives up on our enmity. God gives us a
wonderful opportunity to be reconciled to Him and restored to His Kingdom.
Without Jesus, we would be at war with God forever. Without Christ, we would
have no hope of returning to God’s love.
That is why it’s important that we as Christians become
ambassadors of God’s peace. Sadly, that’s hard to do in a world which is bent
on war. However, if we want hatred to end and enmity to cease, then we have to
become agents of reconciliation and servants of goodwill. Without Christ, our
world will be at war forever. Without Jesus, the earth will have no hope of
experiencing love.
Dear Lord, remind us that our faith is not meant for
fighting, but for reconciling. Help us to remember that You call us to be
ambassadors of God’s unity, and not agents of the devil’s divisions. In Jesus’
Name, Amen.
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