THE GREAT WALL REMOVER

At the foreman's signal, the giant ball is released, and with dynamite force and a reverberating crash, it meets the wall, snapping bricks like twigs and scattering pieces of mortar. Repeatedly, the powerful pendulum works, and soon the barrier has been reduced to rubble. Then it is carted away so that construction can begin. Life has many walls and fences which divide, separate, and compartmentalize. Not made of wood or stone, they are personal obstructions, blocking people from each other and from God. But Christ came as the great Wall Remover, tearing down the sin partition which separates us from God and blasting away the barriers which keep us from each other. "For Christ Himself is our way of peace. He has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one family, breaking down the wall of contempt that used to separate us. By His death He ended the angry resentment between us, caused by the Jewish laws which favoured the Jews and excluded the Gentiles, for He died to annul the whole system of Jewish laws. Then He took the two groups that had been opposed to each other and made them parts of Himself; thus He fused us together to become one new person, and at last there was peace. As parts of the same body, our anger against each other has disappeared, for both of us have been reconciled to God. And so the feud ended at last at the cross" (Ephesians. 2:14-16 LAB). "In this new life one's nationality or race or education or social position is unimportant; such things mean nothing. Whether a person has Christ is what matters, and He is equally available to all" (Colossians 3:11 LAB). What separates you from fellow believers - race, status, wealth, education, personality? God calls you to unity: break down those walls and embrace all brothers and sisters in Christ! Christian relationships must be full of forgiveness and acceptance. Can you forgive those who have wronged you? -Life Application Bible, 1988.)