Well this year has certainly taken some unusual and unpredictable turns. We continue to try to navigate life amidst the changes brought about by trying to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Turmoil and protests have erupted related to racial tensions. And many of us are left wondering what is real and what is being spun by the media.
But we have a source for the truth that helps us to remember in God's eyes we are all one race - human beings made in the image of God. Yes, six thousand years of sin has decayed and marred that image but the foundation is still there waiting to be restored if we will only come to Jesus and submit our life to His. When we are willing to say, "I accept and place you, Jesus, as the Lord of my life" then He can dwell in us through the Holy Spirit and begin the process of recreating His image in us. This is the work of a lifetime. Sometimes that work is quite painful as He presses us to the grindstone to remove the ugly, unwanted characteristics we've inherited from this culture; a culture that is steadily declining as God withdraws His Spirit from this world in preparation for the return of His Son.
The media would have us believe that hatred is rampant and prejudice is still preventing people from attaining to a comfortable and healthy life. But look at your own life and circle of contacts. Ask yourself the questions: How do I treat people who are different from me, regardless of what that difference is? How do people who are different from me, treat me?
If you continue to treat anyone you interact with in a way that is respectful, dignified, kind, and compassionate then you are loving your neighbor and doing the will of God. You are being like Jesus.
Remember what the Bible says in the following passages about humanity:
Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another By profaning the covenant of the fathers? Malachi 2:10
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings Acts 17:26
Yet He is not partial to princes, Nor does He regard the rich more than the poor; For they are all the work of His hands. Job 34:19
"No distinction on account of nationality, race, or caste, is recognized by God. He is the Maker of all mankind. All men are of one family by creation, and all are one through redemption. Christ came to demolish every wall of partition, to throw open every compartment of the temple courts, that every soul may have free access to God. His love is so broad, so deep, so full, that it penetrates everywhere. It lifts out of Satan's influence those who have been deluded by his deceptions, and places them within reach of the throne of God, the throne encircled by the rainbow of promise. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free. {Prophets and Kings, E.G. White, pp 369, 370}"
We, all, are the work of God's hands. We all start the same way in the womb, regardless of the source of the DNA, and we are all sinners in need of the grace and mercy of our creator, Jesus Christ.
Remember the following as we watch how various reports are given by the media: