Daily Devotional for April 14, 2021

Being a white male, I am at the very top of the societal food chain, so I say this as someone who knows I have benefited both from my race and gender.  This is not how our country was meant to be.

America is in crisis.

The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.  It begins with these words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

We even fought the Civil War to ensure this understanding that, in our country, all are equal.

For white people, it’s worked out pretty well.  For everyone else; not so much.

Yesterday, the news reported that students in the Aledo ISD had invented an online game where they were “slave-trading” minority students in their school.  Descriptions of how the students were rated are too abhorrent to write in this devotional.  But it does prove a point.

Our country is being torn apart by racism.  If you don’t believe me, turn on the television.   The airwaves are filled with reports of attacks on the Asian community.  African American men continue to die.  Women in minority communities have suffered and lost the most during the year of COVID-19.

This is where the Church of Jesus Christ must stand and say enough is enough.

As far as I can tell, the Bible never says Jesus only died for one group.  In fact, Jesus is the One who died for all.  He said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son….”  (John 3:16)

As a little boy in Sunday school, we sang Jesus Loves the Little Children.  The refrain says it all:
Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red & yellow, black & white
They are precious in his sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

The only way we are truly going to become the people God created us to be is by seeing each other as equally loved and of equal worth in God’s eyes.  And if it is good enough for God, it’s good enough for us.

So, choose today to no longer see someone as a race or gender.  See them as people.  That’s the best way to see.

Prayer:  Dear Gracious Heavenly God, please heal our nation from the evil of racism.  Use me as your instrument to bring peace and harmony to our troubled world.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

I pray your day is filled with joy and laughter.
Tom Robbins