Last night my oldest son and I started reading a book about Jackie Robinson.\u00a0 He like me loves history and baseball, and so this book was a perfect read.\u00a0 Of course being seven years old he didn’t understand why some people didn’t want Jackie Robinson to play baseball with them.\u00a0 Not wanting to get into a full blown race conversation with my seven year old, we talked about how some people thought those people who weren’t like them weren’t as important as they were.\u00a0 You could see that it wasn’t making a lot of sense to Eli.\u00a0 That is partly because he is seven, but also partly due to the fact that as a family we have a baby girl who is biracial.\u00a0 Therefore, the thought of people being treated differently just because they look different never really crossed Eli’s mind.\u00a0 As a family we have always called Cataleyah part of our family, because to us she is.\u00a0 And so after Eli went to bed, I sat up thinking and just watching some YouTube videos.\u00a0 I have always enjoyed the “diamond in the rough” type stories.\u00a0 So I watched some of the auditions of people from American Idol, America’s Got Talent, Britain’s Got Talent, and The X Factor (sleep was a problem last night).\u00a0 There were several times when a person would walk out on stage of the various shows and the audience would begin to laugh, point, mock, and even the judges would have a look about them or say a sarcastic remark.\u00a0 And then it happened, they began to sing and suddenly the judges and crowd that were laughing and mocking them just moments before begin to cheer, because they realized that past the outer appearance of the person, this person was uniquely gifted.\u00a0 What changed about those performing?\u00a0 The answer is absolutely nothing.\u00a0 The only thing that changed was the crowd’s and judge’s perception of the person once they got to see them as they truly are.<\/p>\n
We have all heard the saying “you can’t judge a book by its cover” yet it seems as if we are ALL guilty of doing it at various times and in various situations.\u00a0 This shows us our fallenness as a human race.\u00a0 It shows that we don’t appreciate the similarities as well as the differences between us.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is that the Bible teaches that all people are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26) and therefore deserve to be treated with dignity, respect, and even love. When we judge a person based solely on their appearance, that is an indictment against us on the fact that we are too lazy to take the time to get to know the person.\u00a0 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “<\/b>But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth<\/i> not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”\u00a0 As Christians especially, we are to strive to follow God’s example.\u00a0 Can we ever truly know what is in a person’s heart?\u00a0 Probably not!\u00a0 But we can take the time to learn what they are willing to share about themselves.\u00a0 Every person has a story, we have all walked different paths to get where we are, and it is incumbent on me as a Christian to care enough about them to get to know them.\u00a0 The last video I watch was about a 10 year old little boy who was blind and who had an incredible voice for his age.\u00a0 The last thought that ran through my head before finally drifting off to sleep is maybe our problem isn’t that we are too blind to appreciate differences in people, maybe our problem is that we can see and we trust our sight.\u00a0 Take time to get to know people and their story, they were created by Almighty God, and only when we get to know them can we care about them.\u00a0 And only when we care about them can we love them enough to share the Gospel with them.\u00a0 God sees everything, but is blind to the differences, He only sees the heart of a person and whether or not they have accepted His gift of salvation.\u00a0 May we be blind so that we can see the true worth and need of all people.<\/p>\n
By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last night my oldest son and I started reading a book about Jackie Robinson.\u00a0 He like me loves history and baseball, and so this book was a perfect read.\u00a0 Of course being seven years old he didn’t understand why some … Read More