August 15, 2023
Passage Read: John 17-18
Meditation Verses: 17:22-23
Thought
Jesus' prayer for His disciples and all of us who believe in Him through them is for our unity, that we would be completely united with each other and more importantly with Christ. The goal He has in mind is that we all know Him and His Father well, and that be what unites us. It is not supposed to be that we all claim to believe in the same God, but that our understanding of God brings us together as one. The various beliefs and doctrines that divide us are not glorifying to God; those should all be merging into one accurate description of God. That would be glorifying to God, if we all knew Him so well as to correct and refine our doctrines, even jettison incorrect doctrines, until we all have the pure doctrine originally handed down to us from the disciples.
Application
My goal should not be to stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone who claims faith in Christ, but to stand shoulder to shoulder with Christ and all those standing with Him. My desire should be to help all who are willing to draw near to God rather than continually parrot their doctrines, to challenge them to hold their doctrines loosely but the Scriptures tightly. The Word of God is what we're supposed to believe, not things about it and about God. Jesus came to reveal the Father to us, not a bunch of doctrinal positions for us to cling to. There is a difference.