Good Morning Friends,
Here we are in a new year and still many embrace a language that divides and if we are honest, we too often follow a line of reasoning that falls short even when well-intended. Thankfully today’s scripture speaks about the issue. In Genesis 11, humanity shares “one language and the same words.” Their unity is powerful — but it becomes a unity bent inward. “Let us make a name for ourselves,” they say (Genesis 11:4). Their shared language becomes a tool for self-exaltation rather than God’s glory. So, God confused their language and scattered them. It is judgment — but it is also mercy. God protects humanity from the illusion that uniformity equals righteousness and that human intellect can build its own salvation. Centuries later, the philosopher David Hume would echo this truth from a different angle. He discovered in his own life that reason alone cannot carry the weight of the human condition. He argued that we cannot logically prove the future. We cannot logically ground morality. We cannot reason our way into transformation. Human reason is a gift — but it is not a foundation. It is a tool, not a savior. Babel shows us the danger of trusting too much in our own understanding. Hume shows us the limits of that understanding. Scripture quietly nods in agreement: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Now Hume is known as the father of postmodernism and has had an influence on our culture in ways many might say is negative. Who knew what he truly believed? Having shared all that I wonder, In What Ways Will God Unite Us Through Our Differences and Form Us Through Habits In 2026?
Scripture: Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Genesis 11:1-9 (NIV)
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
Acts 2:1-12 (NIV)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV)
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2 (NIV)
Message: If we fast forward to Acts 2 we see that the disciples are gathered when the Holy Spirit descends like wind and fire. Suddenly, they begin speaking in many languages — not one — and yet everyone hears the gospel in their own tongue. Pentecost reverses Babel, but not by erasing differences. Instead, God creates unity through diversity. At Babel, language differences scatter people. At Pentecost, people gather regardless of language differences. At Babel, human pride fractured the community. At Pentecost, divine grace forms a new community. At Babel, God confuses speech to restrain sin. At Pentecost, God empowers speech to proclaim salvation. Pentecost teaches us that the Spirit creates unity without sameness — and formation without uniformity. This is where Hume’s insight into habits becomes unexpectedly helpful. He realized that we do not live by logic — we live by patterns. We are shaped by what we repeatedly do. Maybe that is why we make New Year resolutions. Jesus knew this long before philosophers named it and exercise gurus promoted it. Jesus said, “Follow Me.” “Do this in remembrance of Me.” “When you pray, say…” “Love one another.” Spiritual formation is not an intellectual achievement. It is a Spirit‑led reshaping of desire through holy habits. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2) is not merely about thinking differently — it is about living differently until the heart learns to love what God loves. Our passions drive our actions. Reason follows behind, explaining what the heart has already chosen. Scripture again agrees, but with a deeper hope: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” The Christian life is not about mastering arguments. It is about reordering love. The Spirit does not merely inform us — He transforms us.And when we reach the limits of our understanding — whether in language, logic, or life — God meets us there. Where logic cannot reach, revelation speaks. Where reason cannot heal, grace restores. Where understanding fails, love remains. “Now we see through a glass, darkly…” (1 Corinthians 13:12). We do not see everything clearly. But we see enough to trust the One who does. We have been fearfully and wonderfully made in our diversity.
And So, if one reflects about one’s life perhaps, we all might see Babel tendencies — the desire to be understood more than to understand, to be right more than to be humble. But we also might sense where the Spirit was inviting us into a Pentecost posture — listening, learning, and allowing God to speak through the differences of others. Maybe we need to consider situations where we are leaning too heavily on our own understanding, and where God is inviting us to trust Him beyond the limits of our logic.Language shapes how we see the world — what we notice, value, and imagine. It shapes our beliefs, our culture, and our identity. But Scripture shows us something deeper: God is not threatened by our differences. He works through them. He speaks through them. He redeems them. At Babel, God protects humanity from the dangers of uniformity. At Pentecost, God reveals the beauty of Spirit-filled diversity. The gospel does not flatten cultures. It fills them. It sanctifies them. It sends them out as many voices telling one story.
Pray we worship the God who scattered at Babel and gathered at Pentecost.Pray we acknowledge the God who reveals what reason cannot reach. Pray we ask God to teach us to hold our language, our culture, our perspective with humility. Pray in the upcoming year that God shapes our hearts through holy habits. Pray God renew our minds through the Holy Spirit. Pray God make us into people who listen deeply, speak truthfully, and love across differences. Pray God meet us at the limits of our understanding, and lead us deeper into God’s grace. Pray we are united in Christ — not by making us the same, but by making us disciples.Pray that we like all the disciples in the Upper Room, but Judas, call Jesus Lord and not just a great teacher.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 