I had this dream the other night that I was sitting with God under a willow tree by a pond, just chatting and enjoying His company. Not doing anything, not trying to prove my worth or gain acceptance, but just... being... with God. And I looked over at Him only to discover - to my horror - that He looked exactly like the KFC logo. I can't have an "intelligent" conversation with God when He looks like Colonel Sanders, I thought. If I look away - at the pond or the horizon - and pretend He doesn't look like that, maybe I can keep the moment as it is. But curiosity got the better of me, and in my dream I looked over at God once again, only to discover that He now looked exactly like Jimi Hendrix.
It was at this point that I woke myself up laughing (much to Dan's annoyance) but as I was falling asleep again I had another conversation with God. He seemed to be saying, "What does it matter if I look like Colonel Sanders or Jimi Hendrix or Mother Theresa or Hitler or the homeless man on the street? Am I not still God? Are not those people made in my image?"
I realised that I tend to judge people based upon their looks, their ideologies, their deeds. But what if, instead, I looked at each person and said, "There goes a person made in the image of a Holy God." Would I treat them differently? Would I respond to them with a little more respect, a little more understanding, a little more grace?
"Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you." - Matthew 7:1-2
Someone once said, "It is God's job to judge, the Holy Spirit's job to convict, and our job - through Jesus - to love."
1 comment:
What a great thing to point out to our kids as we go about our daily lives at the grocery store,e tc.. especially when they are little and we can get them used to hearing that outloud...maybe they'll start thinking it themselves!!
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