“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4 NLT)
When I was in elementary school, my best friend lived across the street. His yard had a slope on which we would lay at night and look at the star-filled sky. We’d imagine what it would be like to travel in space, to experience its vastness firsthand.
We tend to discount what we don’t understand, so, if we fail to recognize the fingerprints of God on something, even as believers, we too often devalue or disregard it. Everything that God made has purpose. If it had no purpose God wouldn’t have created it.
Living in Florida for a few years caused me to question God’s purpose for mosquitos, but I learned they had much ecological value. It didn’t make it any easier to like them when they bit me, but at least I could see God created them to have their own special place, just as He did for you and me.
John Calvin wrote: “There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.” Having driven across the northern states in the U.S. I saw a picture of my homeland that I’d not seen before and was in awe of its vastness.
John Stonestreet wrote: “What we mean is that creation, itself, is alive and infused with meaning. Just as human beings are not merely the dust we’re made of but images of our Creator, every star, every flower, and every grain of sand is also charged with divine truth. None of it is there by accident but exists to instruct us and to impel us to worship! Every earthly beauty is a reflection of a heavenly reality.”
The biggest takeaway for me as I ponder God’s creation, especially as it relates to us as human beings, is every one of us is an image bearer of almighty God. Some of us have distorted and damaged His image in us so much it’s nearly unrecognizable, but every person deserves to be treated with respect, even, perhaps especially, if they don’t deserve it or, in our mind, haven’t earned it.
Who of us deserves the grace of God? Who are we to cast judgment on another human being? Something that’s been a guiding light for much of my life is this: There’s nothing anyone has ever done or will ever do that I’m not capable of doing given the right set of circumstances. To believe otherwise is to be blind to the power of sin and the evil that exists in our world and lurks within each of us.
Perhaps my greatest disappointment is my seeming never ending infatuation with me. The more desire to put Jesus first in my life, the harder Satan works to push me into His rightful place. How do I most frequently allow that? In my relationships with those I love the most! I treat those closest as though they are an “ordinary thing.”
Taking someone I love for granted is among the grossest sins I can commit against them. To treat my wife without respect or to place my desires ahead of hers; to believe I’m “owed” anything from her, my kids, or anyone else I hold dear, is to remove Jesus from the throne of my life and put myself there instead.
There are no ordinary things, but especially there are no ordinary people. To profess love for Jesus and treat someone like we wouldn’t treat Him is to misrepresent our Savior and miss an opportunity to be Him to someone else.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 