Genesis 1 Devotional - Gathered to One Place

Scripture: Genesis 1:9

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.

As my home church says, “We gather so that we can scatter.” Like the waters gathering to one place at the time of creation, Christians are called to gather together.

We can gather in many different ways. We can attend a worship service, participate in a Bible class, go to a home study, meet with a friend for accountability and prayer, or take part in an online discussion group. However we gather, we are there to encourage one another in our mutual faith.

But notice that God gathered the waters to one place. Now, it wouldn’t be practical or necessary for all Christians to meet in one place physically. But can we meet in one place in our attitudes toward one another?

Can we celebrate the different perspectives that we have as individuals and church groups instead of demeaning one another? Can we put up with theological differences of opinion instead of separating into our many “bodies of water”? Can we work around our views about worship styles and certain lifestyle convictions to preserve the unity of our “one place”?

The Church should be like many waters coming together and blending into one ocean.

But the waters don’t stay in the ocean, do they? In this picture of creation, we see that there was water, and there was dry land. But, somehow, the land needed to be watered. There needed to be streams and rivers feeding the ground.

In the same way, we can divide into different ministry paths to accomplish all the goals of the Church as long as we are doing it out of an attitude of unity.

In what ways is the Holy Spirit asking you to be more gracious toward other Christians?

How can you promote Christian unity in your life?