Today's devotional comes from Josh Birney:
I am sure that we have all heard the story about the little girl, maybe five or six years old, that sneaks into her little brother's room in the middle of the night. The girl wakes her brother up and asks him this question, “Can you tell me what Jesus looks like? Because I am beginning to forget.”
The story is cute and sweet, but it makes me think about the image that I am projecting! When people see me do they see Jesus, that I am created in His image to reflect Him to the world? Have you ever thought about that question? Have you ever thought about what it means to be made in the image of God? I would like to talk briefly about one aspect of our life in which we can reflect the image of God better…our authority.
What is our authority? To find that out we have to look all the way back at the beginning, in the book of Genesis.
Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."
Genesis 1:26-29 – NRSV
The first time ever in the Bible, God had given one part of his creation authority, or rule over another. What does it mean to rule over something? Unfortunately for us and our boys, in life we have had bad examples of what it means to rule in this world: from world leaders, to some of our parents and teachers, some elderships and bosses! Those who “rule” with no regard for the people the rule over, those who seek what is in their best interest, those who always take and almost never give back. Is this what it means to rule?
Maybe a good answer can again be found in the book of Genesis:
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens — and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground,… The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Genesis 2:4-5,15 – NIV
God placed Adam in the Garden with all the animals all the plants and told him to take care of the land. To cultivate it, make it produce! I am not a very good gardener, but I know this: you have to watch it, water it, and be patient with it, if you want it to produce anything. Adam’s and Eve’s authority was to bring out the best in God’s creation, to live with it and off of it, to bless it, enhance it, strengthen it!
The best example of authority is of course Jesus! Jesus has all power and authority, and how did he use it? He used it to make the world better, he healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, he taught a better way to live, He gave us an example of how to “cultivate the land, and take care of it” by bringing out the best in us, enhancing us, dying for us to restore us back to the image of God.
What do people see when they look at me? What do my boys see?
May God bless you,
Josh
