The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. (KJV)
You belong to God, but not just because of your faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ leads you to eternal life with God, as opposed to living eternally apart from Him, but everything and everyone on the earth belong to Him simply because they are His creatures. Think about that for a moment. President Obama and your next-door neighbor belong to God. Your cousins belong to God, as do Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, and Nelson Mandela. Hugh Hefner and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad belong to God every bit as much as the lady who sits next to you at church and your child’s teacher at school.
You likely nodded your head in affirmation as you thought about some of those people. Of course the lady who sits next to you at church belongs to God. She is always so nice to ask how you are doing each week. At the same time, it might have bothered you to think that violent leaders and pornographers also belong to Him. How could they, given what they do?
We all belong to God by virtue of our having been created by Him. The most devout among us and the greatest of sinners all belong to God. How much, then, must God grieve when His creation goes astray? How much must God want His creation to turn to Him and accept His grace and love? How much must He want those who already have accepted the gift of life to share it with those who have not?
Father, it is too easy for me to look at others and think less of them because of their sinful actions. Forgive me my pride and so fill my heart with Your love that it flows out in word and deed to all around me. May everyone You put in my life come to bow to our Lord Jesus Christ, in Whose name I pray, amen.
Copyright © 2011 by Steven R. Perkins
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