Your Daily Devotional for August 16, 2007

 

August 16,  2007

 

 

Created in His Image

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"Thou shalt not kill."

 

Exodus 20:13

 

 

A father once came home to his crying daughter, Zoe. When he found out that she was upset because her pet turtle had died, he tried to console her by offering to have a funeral. "A funeral," he said, "is a great festival in honor of the turtle." She didn't know what a festival was so he began to try to relate it to her. "Actually," he said, "a funeral is like a birthday party. We'll have ice cream and cake and lemonade and balloons, and all the children in the neighborhood will come over to play. All because the turtle has died."

 

Shortly after, Zoe's tears began to dry up and she returned to her happy self. Then, an utterly unforeseen thing happened. They looked down, and, lo and behold, the turtle began to move. He was not dead after all. In a matter of seconds he was crawling around as lively as ever. Mr. Sanders didn't know what to say. But Zoe appraised the situation perfectly. With all the innocence of a three year old she looked up at her father and said, "Daddy, let's kill it!"

 

Many people do not view human life as seriously as God does. God commands us not to kill. While in time of war, He does make provisions for punishment and for self-defense. God desires that we cherish all human life. We must view each person as God does, for we are all created in His image.

 

Genesis 1:26-27 says, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." When God planned to make man, He decided to make Him in His image with His likeness. We are all in the image of God!

 

In my study there is a picture of my wife Terrie. I like it very much. It captures the essence of her kind and beautiful spirit, and I treasure it for that reason. If this image were placed in storage and found one hundred years from now, a person might look at it and throw it in the trash. I could not trash the picture because it bears the image of someone I love. Even so, God desires that we keep human life sacred for God has made us in His image, and He loves us all!

 

We can keep human life sacred through our actions. We can all be guilty of treating certain people better than others. While we may never think to kill someone, we may oftentimes treat them poorly or think badly of them. Friend, we are all created in God's image! All human life is sacred in His eyes. We must treat everyone as Christ would treat them—with love and honor.

 

We all know that killing someone is wrong, yet do we live that way through our actions? We may not be physically harming someone, but are we treating them with love and respect? Who could you treat more kindly today? Never forget that each person is created in God's image and is special to Him. Ask God to help you keep life sacred by loving those around you today.

 

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 94-96 • Romans 15:14-33

 

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