Being a dad of 4 girls ranging from the ages of 7 to 13, they have taught me many lessons. One of the recent lessons is their desire to do activities together and copy one another. They want to dress alike, play the same game, have the same toys, and even go to the restroom together. Seems like all they want to do is be the together as one herd of giggling girls.
The other day my youngest saw a potato that had fallen out of the bag. She picked it up and started playing with it like a baby. Of course, this begs the question of why I buy them toys. She named it her “Potato Baby” and played with it all over the house.
The other girls at first resisted the presence of potato baby. I found myself having to explain to them let her be imaginative and include potato baby them as they played. Before I knew another girl had taken a potato out of the bag and had her own potato baby to match her sister. They resisted the imaginary game but soon became one in play with their own potato baby.
As I watched this developed two things came to mind. First, I am now a grandpa to potatoes and will have to learn how to relate to these little fries. Second, how quickly we can conform to become one in our activities.
This second thought is what got me thinking. Do we conform into one action in other areas of life? As I started to examine life, it seems we have a desire to become one in our activities. Ladies want the latest fashion trends to match their favorite role model. Teenagers want to do the same things as their friends like playing hours of Fortnite or doing the Floss. Men don’t think you are an exception. We like to dress in matching shirts to cheer on our favorite sports team.
Unity, conformity, becoming one seems to be ingrained into the fabric of our lives. Yet when it comes to our spiritual life, we seem to think it is an individual activity. Jesus on the night when He was betrayed spent time praying for our unity. While in the garden, Jesus prayed, “I am in them and You are in Me. May they be made completely one, so the world may know You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me.” John 17:23 (HCSB)
It is pretty amazing that during Jesus’s difficult time He took the time to pray for future believers. His prayer was that we become completely one. Being a follower of Jesus is not an individual activity, it is a group effort. Notice Jesus doesn’t want us to be identical but unified as one. That unity will display the love of God. In this new year, allow God to unite you with fellow believers and become one with God’s love. Even if that means to become one with the potato.
