daily Devotional February 14 - Joining Together For Power

"And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem." Ezra 3:1

If you were to read Ezra 3 you would find that tens of thousands of people had been gathering themselves together with all their animals. They were gathering to build the Temple. They were being freed from captivity and heading to Jerusalem to help build the Temple and worship God. What makes this verse and the meaning of it so important is the phrase, "the people gathered themselves together as one man..."

• Were we to gather together as one man we could accomplish the impossible.
• Were we to gather together as one man we would have to let down our guard a while.
• Were we to gather together as one man we would have to stop competing with one another, especially pastors.
• Were we to gather together as one man we would have the influence of a mighty people.

I believe we should spend our time finding out what are the God attributes of others/other groups and build true Christianity on the common elements that bind us together. One group/denomination won't mingle with another because of so-called theological differences. I say those who make such a big deal about it are babies in the faith. And those who nurture consistent separation surely won't be gathering together for the next big move of God as they did here in the Book of Ezra.