May they all be one, as You, Father are in Me and I am in You. May they also be one in Us, so the world may believe You sent Me.      John 17:21

This scripture passage is an excerpt from a prayer that Jesus prayed shortly before His crucifixion.

In the book of John, chapters 13-17 are called the Farewell Discourses. These are the final teachings and encouragement Jesus gave to His disciples in the upper room after the Passover supper. Chapter 17 is a prayer that Jesus prayed to God, the Father at the conclusion of their time together, just before his betrayal. It as known as the high priestly prayer.

Jesus prays for His own glorification, the protection of believers, the sanctification of believers of believers, the unity of believers and the ultimate glorification of believers. He is praying for those who will ultimately form the body of Christ, or the church.

In our scripture passage for today, Jesus prays for the unity of believers. This doesn’t mean conformity. He is not saying that believers should conform, we must be clear on this. Often times today the word unity is used meaning that we should all be okay with things that clearly go against God’s Word. Let’s not get this confused. What He is speaking of here is the unity among believers.

We know that Satan is hard at work trying to cause division among believers. Satan lies and tells us that if we truly believe we must accept things that clearly go against God’s Word. We are even seeing this creep into some of the churches today. People are going along to get along and this is not what this scripture is all about. God has a purpose for each and everyone of us and it is about us unifying to accomplish that purpose that He has given us. If Satan can divide us and cause a bunch of bickering and strife, he can distract us and keep us from pursuing the goal of bringing glory to God and winning others to Christ.

When we are unified as believers, we bring glory to God. We become human billboards or commercials for Christ so that others may come to know Him and love Him. This can lead to others serving Him and leading others to Christ. When others see Christians in unity, it makes it possible for them to know that God loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son to die for our sins so that we may have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Often times people don’t want to get involved in church, but my friend, when we unite to serve Christ, we are involved in something way bigger than ourselves. If we say that we are going to worship Christ alone or just within our immediate family, we are not serving Him with other like-minded individuals. We are staying within ourselves and not reaching out to others.

Remember that the world watches us. Jesus prayed to God that we would serve Him in unity so that those who are non-believers may see His love and glory shine through us. Our unity in Christ serves as a powerful witness to the world.

In John 13:35, Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.”

Jesus is about to go to the cross to die for your sin and mine in John 17. He pleads to God that believers may unite to show the world the love that is given to us by God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son. He prays for God to protect believers and He prays that believers will unify and show the world this great love.

It would be great if God would just make us all love one another. We know He could do that, but He chooses to give us free will. I ask you today, are you willing to grant Jesus wish and help His prayer be fulfilled? Are you willing to sacrifice yourself as He sacrificed Himself for us. He isn’t asking that we die on a cross, but He is asking that we die to self. He is asking that we put Him first and others second. He is asking that we put on display for the world to see the kind of love that He gives us each and every day. Can you do that? Will you do it for Him?

Are you willing to love others, even those that seem unlovable, more than you love yourself? Are you willing to put yourself last so that others may see Him in you? When you think about how our sin nailed Him to that cross, it’s really not so much to ask is it?

The best news is that though Jesus died for our sins, He rose from the dead and He lives today. When we unite with other believers, we bring glory to our living God so that others can see Him through us. Won’t you let Him shine through you today?

Have a great day!