Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.” … So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. [Genesis 1:26,27 (NLT)]
It’s often said, “Like father, like son,” and that was true of my father-in-law and his sons. Although they weren’t carbon copies of their dad, the boys shared several characteristics with the man who fathered them. In the same way, because God created us in His image, we share some of His characteristics. Of course, there are many important ways we are not like our Creator—He is all-knowing, eternal, all-powerful, and ever-present. Without a physical body, we don’t have things like God’s nose, hair color, or smile. Nevertheless, we do resemble Him in the spiritual, moral, and intellectual attributes of our nature that distinguish us from the rest of the animal world.
Although we share some of God’s attributes, we share them only to a limited extent. I can be a good person, be good-natured, be good at something, look good, feel good, do good, and even smell good. Nevertheless, I am not wholly good. Although I can be in love, love someone or something, act loving, profess my love, and be loved, I cannot be love. While my family claim that my recipes for barbecue sauce, California dream bars, and buttermilk pancakes are perfect, I am not (and never will be) perfect. I can distinguish righteousness from wickedness, have righteous indignation, act righteously, and feel both righteous and self-righteous, but I still sin. I can recognize wisdom, act wisely, and, on occasion, even give wise counsel, but I am not wisdom and, while I can know the truth, discern between truth and falsehood, and speak the truth, I am not truth.
On the other hand, God doesn’t stop at doing good, loving wholly, performing flawlessly, acting righteously, advising wisely, and speaking the truth—He is goodness, love, perfection, righteousness, wisdom, and truth personified! Nevertheless, imperfect as we mortals are, we should resemble our Creator in our words and actions. I’m not sure we always do.
God doesn’t play favorites. Every human being, regardless of race, nationality, ethnicity, politics, language, wealth, education, religion, social status, power, or gender has been created in the image of God. Do we treat our fellow image bearers with the respect, love, and compassion due to all of God’s children?
Since all people are in the image of God, all deserve to be treated with the dignity the image affords. [John H. Walton]
Every human life is a reflection of divinity, and…every act of injustice mars and defaces the image of God in man. [Martin Luther King, Jr.]
“I’m so busy!” If there’s even a remote possibility that we might be asked to do something we’d rather avoid, we can cut off the request at the pass by starting the conversation with those words. It’s the perfect out. On the other hand, when said to us, we can’t argue with it.
Tithe means ten percent and the concept of the making a tithe is first found in Genesis. After being blessed by Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a “priest of God Most High,” Abram/Abraham gave him a tenth of all the goods he recovered from Kedorlaomer’s army after rescuing Lot. [14:20] After Jacob asked for God’s protection and provision, he pledged a tenth of his future blessings to Him. [28:22]
In 1 Kings 21, we learn of Naboth, the owner of a vineyard adjacent to King Ahab’s palace in Jezreel. A choice piece of real estate, Ahab wanted it for himself and offered to purchase or exchange it for other land. Property, however, wasn’t to be treated as a real estate investment—it was to remain in the family to which it had been allotted. Because Jewish law prohibited Naboth from selling his ancestral land, he rejected the king’s offer. Angry at his neighbor’s refusal’s, Ahab acted like a spoiled child, took to his bed, and refused to eat. Upon learning the reason for her husband’s sulking, Jezebel hatched a devious plan. She arranged for false accusations to be made against Naboth that would result in his immediate death. Jezebel’s evil plot went as planned and, upon news of their neighbor’s death, she told Ahab the land was his and he took it for himself!
We tend to think of fasting during Lent as abstaining from certain foods, drinks, or activities. Several years ago, however, I was asked, “What if you fasted regret? What if your friends fasted comparison? What would be the fruit of fasting stinginess?” Those questions proposed an entirely different kind of fast than refraining from sweets or social media. In truth, fasting from things like self-righteousness, discontent, and criticism is probably harder (and more meaningful) than giving up energy drinks or dining out.
Tomorrow, December 6, is the Feast of St. Nicholas (or Sinterklass). Although it is difficult to know fact from fiction, we do know that St. Nicholas was born around 270 AD in Patara, a city in Lycia (modern day Turkey). The son of wealthy and devout parents, it was his uncle, the Bishop of Patara, who took charge of his spiritual life. Nicholas became the Bishop of Myra in Turkey, quite likely attended the council of Nicaea, spent seven years imprisoned under Diocletian Persecution, and died on December 6, around 343 AD. While we don’t know much about the man, he must have had a great impact on the early Christian church because, by 450 AD, churches in Asia Minor and Greece were named in his honor and, by the mid-6th century, the Emperor Justinian dedicated a church to him in Constantinople.
Devotions of the Heart 