Mixing Oil and Water

 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
    when brothers dwell in unity!

It is like the precious oil upon the head,
    running down upon the beard, 

upon the beard of Aaron,
    running down on the collar of his robes!

It is like the dew of Hermon,
    which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
    life for evermore.

Psalm 133:1-3(RSV)

Unity? Unity is what God sees and demands of us because He loves us. Uniformity is what men wrongly try to force on one another and try to do to one another and to those things around them. Uniformity leads to chaos.

It's a challenge to try to live together in unity when we see the things around us as they really area, different. It's a lot like trying to mix oil and water. There truly are so many things to deal with in life, all of various sizes and shapes and colors and purposes. Variety makes it interesting. Variety often looks confusing though, and it becomes almost too much to  handle at times, or to try and think about, so our first reaction is often to place some kind of control over it all. We try to make things just a little bit better. We try to make things conform to what we think they should be. When we only look at the superficial outside. To make them like me. To stop the pain. But it never works out quite the way we planned. I have to admit that when oil and water are mixed together with a little vinegar for a purpose it makes a great salad dressing.

I might think wrongly that if you are not like me then I should try and control you. What I don't understand, I might be tempted to try to tame. I will do this even if it kills the thing that I am trying to change or the spirit of the thing. I will do this even if it kills me: keep it simple, keep it straight, sort it by group, only so tall, only so wide. Box it up and keep it orderly! That's about right.  

My desires for uniformity sometimes drive me crazy. It's a full time job. Yet, it is always easier to try to change the things around me, than it is to look inward. Chaos ensues and overwhelms me at times because of my mistaken desire that everything be like me. This is all fine, but it is not God's way.

When governments enforce uniformity it leads to disaster. Universal healthcare. One world order. One world religion. Even if it sounds good, it's just won't work. Uniformity leads to death.

God desires unity. Unity of purpose. Only God can accomplish this in us. He made us and no two things that are made are exactly alike. He made us different. He gave us gifts and a purpose. He controls it all and it is orderly by His design. It works for everyone. Unity leads to life.

So true! We are wrong to try and force uniformity on the things and people around us. Take the birds as an example. Birds have a right wing and a left wing for a reason. Someone might decide one day that the left wing is better and campaign to destroy the right. Same bird but both wings are symmetrical opposites, and designed by God that way to keep the bird flying straight! He needs both for balance. Try super-imposing one over the other and see what happens. The poor bird can't fly or will fly in circles, or even upside down! 

Birds that can't fly are as good as dead. Uniformity will stifle creativity and freedom. A society that pushes its own will on others will destroy everything that is good. The right normally stands for love of God and love of country, liberty, laws, freedom, borders, individual human rights, unity, self reliance, and life while the left is antithetically opposed to all of that and stands for group rights, group identity and bigger government and more government control, among other things. 
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Because we each have our own thoughts and opinions on morality and what we believe, uniformity is then, by design the beginning of intolerance. God is Love. He desires that none shall perish. God's Will really is the best way. God's ways really are the only way. His ways in which we live together in unity are like the precious oil running down upon the beard and the dew which falls on the mountain. Unity is then, Divine, and where God commanded us to dwell in order to receive the blessings of life for evermore! Amen.

Dear Father.

 

We intercede and pray for our Christian brothers and sisters and even for the whole world to live together in unity, and we pray in agreement with the last command of Jesus, that we love one another just as He has loved us. And though it might feel uncomfortable at times, we remember the Cross and what You had to go through for our redemption. We will continue to take up our cross, to live by Faith, to worship You as Lord and to live lives of devotion for You. 

 

In Jesus's name.

Amen.

Source: 'Drummingthemessagehome' November 8, 2019 reposted.