**Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:** Palm 23:5a
Psalm 23 teaches us among other things that God provides for us, He gives us rest, He guides us to righteousness, and He is with us right up to our death.
Here in verse 5, we see that He makes life easier for us when we are under attack.
But who are these enemies that would attack us? Are they friends turned traitor? Are they neighbors? Are they estranged family members?
Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against today’s rulers of darkness, against spiritual evil…and when these evil ones rise up against us, God is not distracted by them, He is there to watch over us and fill our table with his blessings.
Unfortunately, since the days of Cain and Abel, humans have fallen into the trap of thinking that a certain person or persons are enemies.
There is, however, a common enemy that is from this world, that is our own flesh.
Pride, Envy, Jealousy, Disagreements, Differences of Opinion that become Divisive Points. These all fool us and cause us to think that another human being is our arch enemy and we fight and argue and break off communication all together with them.
The reality is that when our fleshly desires and opinions are in control, we are capable of just about any barbarous act. The courts, television, movies, books and the daily news all tell this story again and again.
Let’s remember that as children of the God of Peace, we should be examples of peaceful relationships. Because when we fight and argue with others we are reinforcing the powers of darkness. We are adding fuel to their condemning fire.
Jesus Christ, as always, is our perfect example. He reconciled us to Himself, being his enemies because of our rebellion against him. It was our fault, yet, He did everything necessary to restore our relationship with him. He took the first step. We were the bad guys, yet, He sought us out and made it right.
Now, it is up to us to not only make peace with others, but we should also help others to be reconciled to Christ. We are ambassadors of this ministry of reconciliation.
My prayer is that each of us would be a reconciler for others.