Meditations Monday (Tuesday Edition): Our Beautiful Fabric

Dear Lord; Happy Meditations Mon… Um, Tuesday Father!

Well Father, to begin with I want to thank You for a lovely three-day-weekend.  Other than some much-needed housecleaning, we were Blessed to enjoy quality time with friends, have a fun “Date Night” out, and help another of our friends celebrate her 40^th birthday by hosting a surprise party at the house.  All-in-all it was a very pleasant few days respite, and I’m very grateful for that time.

As we’ve discussed many times Lord, Shannon and I consider our friends one of Your most amazing Blessings in our lives.  As I was running around on Monday morning picking up supplies for the birthday party we hosted, it dawned on me how amazingly diverse our group of friends really is.  Truly, nearly every walk of life is represented in some fashion; each person a beautiful, unique thread in the tapestry of our “extended family”.

In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul discusses the importance of diversity in Your People along those same lines.  In his example, the diversity comes from the varied Spiritual Gifts You bestow on us through the Holy Spirit:

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free —and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.  If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” – 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 (NIV)

Paul makes a marvelous point in that in Christ, there is no ethnic, cultural or social distinction; each individual member is a loved and important part of the Whole.  We all have roles to play, and gifts to share in the Body of Christ, and each is as important as the others.  You created us all to be exactly what You intended us to be; fearfully and wonderfully made, and designed to offer the unique and precious gifts You’ve granted us for the benefit of Your Family.

It’s a very powerful lesson Lord, and one I know we could all stand to implement more effectively in our daily lives.

Heavenly Father, I thank You for the wonderful people You’ve brought into our lives; each a unique, beautiful, and Blessed thread in our family’s fabric.  Please help us see through any improperly perceived barriers between one another, and to reach out with our Spiritual Gifts to further the business of Your Eternal Kingdom.

In Jesus’ Name we pray,

Amen.

~Phather Phil