DAILY?READINGS: 2 Kings 8; Jeremiah 42:7 to 43:13; Hebrews 11:1-16
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Colossians 3:15
Why do we find an admonition to be thankful here? Surely gratitude is easy if the peace of God rules in our hearts. Perhaps it is because this call to thankfulness is within a context of unity among God’s people—forgiving and forbearing with even the quarrelsome (3:13). Unity is vital to Christian community. Disunity ruins the work of God. It is tragic the destruction it has wrought. Some of God’s people are not easy to love (I’m one of them). Giving way to frustration gets us nowhere and robs us of our own peace. Making an effort to find a thank-worthy trait in such ones may surprise us with its outcome. —S. M.
Let our mutual love be glowing, thus will all men plainly see,
That we, as on one stem growing, living branches are in Thee.—Nikolaus L. von Zinzendorf