Losing Sight of the Real Goal
The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. (2 Samuel 3:1)
Even after Sauls death, the war between Israel and Judah continued. Everyone took sides over their petty differences and faced off, keeping the battle running for many years. And by doing so, they were thwarting Gods plans for their nation. Their goal as a people was to take the land for God, to drive out the idolaters, the Canaanites, and to establish Gods nation in Israel. But they allowed selfish interest and differences of opinion to get in the way and to bring Gods plan to a grinding halt while they fought it out. In the end, Gods purpose was accomplished, but it would have gone so much more smoothly if the people of Israel had put their petty differences aside and kept their real goal in focus.
Throughout history and still today we see exactly the same thing happening. Our purpose as the body of Christ is two-fold to worship Him with all our hearts, and all our minds, and all our might and to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to a lost world. And yet far too many times - we allow our petty differences to get in the way. Denominations deride each other. Whole churches are split because two factions cant agree on something, and generally that something is quite petty in the eternal scheme of things. Personal disagreements have over and over again caused one person to leave a church rather than have to be confronted with the other person every Sunday. To a world full of lost people, there are times when we Christians dont look much different from any other people in the world. The beautiful vision of Jesus is obliterated by our bickering and slandering and fighting all because we lose sight of our common goal.
No matter what happens in your church or your personal life or in the world dont lose sight of the common goal. A world full of lost people needs to see Jesus. Dont block their view.
From Dogwood Ministries, Inc.
J-R-and-Bonnie@dogwoodministries.org
Used with Permission