Day 6: Agreement and company
What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people” (2 Corinthians 6:16).
Our Father and Lord Almighty, the apostle Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians of the promise You had made to Your people, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters” (2 Corinthians 6:18).
John, close friend and follower of Jesus, tells us that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). So as children of God—who is light—we are called to separation from darkness. The apostle Paul reminds us that an inherent incompatibility exists between light and darkness. (2 Corinthians 6:14).
Father, we live in the world, but we are not of the world. (John 17:15-16). We live with the awareness that we are the temple of the Living God (2 Corinthians 6:16). We are mindful of the words of Scripture, “Come out from them and be separate,” says the Lord (2 Corinthians 6:17).
So even as we live, and interact, and minister in our world, we are called to intentionally choose partners, and allies, and associates with values and beliefs, that together with ours, bring glory to the Living God (2 Corinthians 6:14). This goes beyond any single dimension of our lives.
The challenge, "What fellowship can light have with darkness?" covers all areas of our lives and our relationships, our habits, and our practices. It was the same counsel given by the psalmist who cautioned the people of God not to walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers (Psalm 1:1).
O Lord, You have called us to love one another as You have loved us (John 13:34). Teach us how to do that well, even as we decline participation in the fruitless deeds of darkness (Ephesians 5:11). Teach us to live in agreement and company with those who delight in Your law (Psalm 1:2).
You have commanded us to have no other gods before You. You have told us that agreement is not possible between the temple of God and idols. We were once darkness, but You have called us from the dark things that are improper for God's holy people—sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking (Ephesians 5:3-4; 8).
Help us to live in agreement and company with those who live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) Help us to find out what pleases the Lord (Ephesians 5:8-10).
Help us, as the temple of the Living God to offer the sacrifices of the righteous (Psalm 4:5) and bring You holy and pleasing worship.
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