Day 76: Our Value: In The Image of God
Read: Genesis 1:26 - 27
This morning, I am going to ask you to indulge me for a little while.
Imagine that you are going to work or going shopping and you are driving
your car at a higher rate of speed than the posted limit. As you begin
approaching a stoplight at an intersection you realize one of two
things: the first being that your brakes have totally failed or that
your accelerator pedal is stuck and will not let you slow down. You
begin to panic. You quickly survey the situation you see that,
parked on the right is a brand new shiny BMW...parked on the left is a
big diesel trailer truck carrying thousands of dollars of valuable
cargo. You see before you an opportunity to end this. What do you do
now?
On either side of the car and truck are expensive
pieces of real estate....and walking right in front of you...right in
the middle of your lane is one of the most pathetic looking human beings
you have ever seen. He/She appears to be very unhealthy....hardened by
years of sleeping on park benches or under bridges....mouth drooping to
one side, clothes are a conglomeration of filthy rags... one foot drags
behind the other in a kind of limp.... demeanor tells you that there is
probably something really wrong in the head.
Now....remember....your brakes have failed....so as you hurtle toward
this intersection at high speed, you must choose what your car will
crash into.... … the BMW, the truck, the valuable real estate....or the
old street person. Which would you choose to sacrifice and which would
you choose to save? Now you are probably all thinking that this is a bit
of silly question because what ever we hit, it would certainly not be
the person. But why? Why choose to let this person go unscathed? In what
way is this person more valuable than the BMW, the semi or the real
estate? How valuable are we to our God?
So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)
So why is the homeless person so valuable? Worth so much to you or to
any one of us? Well, I’ll let you into a secret – it’s because this
anonymous homeless person, like you and me is made in the image of God.
So let me ask each of you to please consider: In what way are any
of us more valuable to God than the material things, than the birds in
the sky, the chicken that is trying to cross the road to get to the
other side? In what way are we more valuable to each other. Looking
through the eyes of God, how is it that we can possibly assign more value to each other than we have for ourselves?
Let us Pray: Heavenly Father, God Almighty, today, tomorrow and in the
days ahead, let our prayer be that we, Your people, might become more
complete, more mature, more visible, more confident, more bold, bearers
of Your Image into Your Kingdom.
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Read: Genesis 1:26 - 27
This morning, I am going to ask you to indulge me for a little while. Imagine that you are going to work or going shopping and you are driving your car at a higher rate of speed than the posted limit. As you begin approaching a stoplight at an intersection you realize one of two things: the first being that your brakes have totally failed or that your accelerator pedal is stuck and will not let you slow down. You begin to panic. You quickly survey the situation you see that, parked on the right is a brand new shiny BMW...parked on the left is a big diesel trailer truck carrying thousands of dollars of valuable cargo. You see before you an opportunity to end this. What do you do now?
On either side of the car and truck are expensive pieces of real estate....and walking right in front of you...right in the middle of your lane is one of the most pathetic looking human beings you have ever seen. He/She appears to be very unhealthy....hardened by years of sleeping on park benches or under bridges....mouth drooping to one side, clothes are a conglomeration of filthy rags... one foot drags behind the other in a kind of limp.... demeanor tells you that there is probably something really wrong in the head.
Now....remember....your brakes have failed....so as you hurtle toward this intersection at high speed, you must choose what your car will crash into.... … the BMW, the truck, the valuable real estate....or the old street person. Which would you choose to sacrifice and which would you choose to save? Now you are probably all thinking that this is a bit of silly question because what ever we hit, it would certainly not be the person. But why? Why choose to let this person go unscathed? In what way is this person more valuable than the BMW, the semi or the real estate? How valuable are we to our God?
So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)
So why is the homeless person so valuable? Worth so much to you or to any one of us? Well, I’ll let you into a secret – it’s because this anonymous homeless person, like you and me is made in the image of God. So let me ask each of you to please consider: In what way are any of us more valuable to God than the material things, than the birds in the sky, the chicken that is trying to cross the road to get to the other side? In what way are we more valuable to each other. Looking through the eyes of God, how is it that we can possibly assign more value to each other than we have for ourselves?
Let us Pray: Heavenly Father, God Almighty, today, tomorrow and in the days ahead, let our prayer be that we, Your people, might become more complete, more mature, more visible, more confident, more bold, bearers of Your Image into Your Kingdom.
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