July 23 – A Promise – One Hope

July 23 – A Promise – One Hope

There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)

Sometimes it feels as if Christianity is fragmented.  There are so many different denominations, people want to worship and do things differently depending on how they live their lives.  There are wars fought over how Christianity should be handled in our lives.  We see disruption everywhere we look.

I think about this a lot and I pray about it, stress over it, and worry over it.  I read books about how Christianity in the western world is falling apart and I look for signs that it is being destroyed on so many different fronts.  When I see signs of hope, they aren’t necessarily in any of my communities but far away in countries – continents that I will never visit.

Then I read this verse.

This is a promise.  This isn’t a commandment – it’s a promise.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God.  There is one hope, one body, one Spirit.  There is one God.

We can play all the games we like, worry about it stress over it, write books about it and it will not change a thing.  We can experience fragmentation and dissension, but we can’t escape the promise.

There is one God.  There is one hope.