Peace and Unity- The Olive Tree

Isaiah 41:19 "...and the oil tree..."

God promises to bring the oil tree where it shouldn't be able to grow. The oil tree or the olive tree represents two things, but for the purpose of today's blog entry I would like to concentrate on only one- peace and fellowship. Ps. 133:1,2 states how good and how pleasant it is to live together in unity. There will not be many people who do not desire to live together peacefully and in unity. There is only one I can think of who does not like us to live together in unity. It is the Enemy of our faith.

You see, he knows according to Jesus' prayer in John 17:20-23 that it is by our unity that others will know and believe that God sent Jesus. This unity cannot come from ourselves, in verse 22 Jesus says, "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them that they may be one just as We are one." It is through His glory, His anointing, His life , we have the ability to be one.

Romans 12:14-18 gives us a good formula for practicing unity. I think the part which jumps out at me the most is "do not be wise in your own opinion." The longer we are here on earth, the more opinions we form. Whether the opinions be on the far left or the far right- whether they be conservative or liberal- they are simply opinions. According to the dictionary and opinion is " a personal view, attitude, or appraisal."
How careful we must be not to be crusading for an opinion and lose sight of the One who has prayed for us to walk in unity! Preach Christ and Him crucified; it seems so simple and yet it is the key to unity.

Let that olive tree spring up even today in your life. Ask God to bind us together in unity and love for one another.