Connected 101: How God Joins People Together
What are spiritual connections?
The dictionary describes a connection as
“A relationship in which a person, thing, or idea is linked or associated with something else.”
Connection is simply the way God intended for mankind to relate to each other and with Him. The first commandment God gave to Adam and Eve was to be fruitful and multiply, and the last prayer Jesus prayed before he ascended into heaven was, “Father, may they be one as you and I are one.” From sexual intimacy between a man and a woman to produce children, to the oneness of the body of Christ, this connection idea is everywhere from Genesis to Revelation.
God is love
God is a God of Love and desires a relationship with His children. Our Father also expects his children to get along as well. The idea of being connected with God while having issues with our brethren just doesn’t make sense. If Christ is our head and we are His body fitly joined together then we must be connected to God and to each other to function properly. Just as you wouldn’t work well if your body was disconnected and strewn about everywhere, neither does the body of Christ function properly when disjointed.
Throughout the whole Bible, this message of being connected is made plain. God says,
“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”
Matthew 5:23,24
God doesn’t want us to break connection with one another. Make it right with your brother, restore unity, then come to our Lord in prayer. If you hurt your own body, the first course of action is not to cut off that piece because it hurts. Loving your body, you put a band-aid on a cut until it heals, or put a cast around a broken bone until it mends. The members of Christ body are just as important as our own limbs and we should protect and care for them also.
God wants us to be connected
The idea of connections is all around us. We see connections in everyday life. From a child being fascinated with putting together Legos, to an adult mason building a beautiful brick home. From grandma baking cookies for her grandchild, to a doctor tending his patient, we live in a world made of connections. Is it so odd that our Creator, who made us this way, desires a connection with us too? The shepherd with his lambs, a Father with his children, or as a groom towards his bride, all demonstrate connection. The way all these are connected are pictures of the way God desires to interact with His creation.
Let us not frustrate our Savior like His own people did when he cried, “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered you under my wings as a hen with her chicks, but you would not.” Let us say that we WILL gather under the safety and warmth of our Saviors wings, even if it is a bit crowded or we are bumping into other chicks, because we want to be connected and in unity as our Savior desires.
Very well put!