ESOCS Devotional 9 December 2023 – The Power of Unity
MEMORY VERSE: “And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” Genesis 11: 6
TEXT: GENESIS 11:1-9 (KJV)
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
God stands and affirms the power of unity in getting things done. In our text, the Lord spoke of the power of the people of Babel. These people were united for the wrong reasons, and yet God acknowledged what ability they had. Imagine what we can do if we are united for the right reasons. That’s why the first thing that God did upon the establishment of the early church was give people a united language.
The God we serve is a God of unity who desires that His church live in unity and harmony built on the foundation that is Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who draws us together and the power of the Holy Spirit that make our bond stronger.
God calls the church to be a vibrant and powerful one that bears much fruit and the way we do that is by working together in perfect unity. That’s why we are likened to a body – because what gets things done is unity in diversity. 1 Corinthians 12:12 says, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”
Unity is vital to building strong and vibrant churches. Today, the body of Christ is plagued by church splits and denomination splits all in the name of truth. But is the truth something that is to bring division within the body of believers? I believe that the truth, once centralized on the person of Jesus Christ, will bring unity and not division. The truth of God’s Word should bring oneness and not categorization amongst us.
God is looking to build a church where everyone values relational unity, and the way we achieve that unity is by being united under one banner. There is no other banner that must be lifted high in God’s house than the banner of Jesus’ name. There is power in being brought together in Jesus’ name, and when
we are united in Jesus, nothing that we propose to do will be impossible for us.
- What impact have you made to ensure the unit you function in is working in unity to bring growth in the body of Christ?
- Father Lord, pour out the spirit of unity in the church in Jesus name
FURTHER READING: Daniel 2:1-23; Luke 13:18–35; I Corinthians 13:1–13
ESOCS Devotional 9 December 2023
