Good morning, everyone.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 7:51, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.”
Robert Sanderson remarked in a sermon in 1621, “Am not I a child of the same Adam … a chip of the same block, with him?” Soon after, John Milton wrote, “How well dost thou now appear to be a chip of the old block.” There is a German proverb that goes back at least to 1585 that says, “Der Apfel fellt nicht gerne weit vom Baume.” Translated, it means “the apple does not fall far from the tree.” Similarly, you’re probably familiar with sayings such as, “like father, like son,” “birds of a feather,” “evil field will evil yield,” and “cut from the same cloth.” You may even be one who has been accused of being the “spittin’ image” of someone. We all know we came from someone else. What we are made of has a source and origin that passed along traits that have framed and shaped us. Try as we may, our actions, mannerisms and inclinations cannot but reflect the ones from whom we came. Even when siblings turn out as different as Sylvester and Tweety, their differences are still somehow similar, even if completely opposite philosophically or in their subject matter. The conservative dad and liberal daughter view the world with different lenses, but their passion and focus is the same, even if their methodology is not.
So, in a short devotion, what is the point of being reminded, quite simplistically, that we are like our ancestors? Well, primarily to encourage us to look a little further back when we go about crediting our faults and talents. We were made in the image of God, and we should not let Adam and Eve and thousands of years of the curse deter us from the fact that God loves us as much as He loved Adam and Eve before they sinned. Your tendency to fall short of God’s glory doesn’t mean that your worth is devalued every time you stumble. Our position before God does not rise and fall like the stock market, regardless of what sins you tend to rehearse in your mind. You are like your Father. And even though mankind did fall not far from a tree, God already had it covered to make you whole again. So, when you look or act like someone, let it be the One who breathed life into you, And when you don’t look or sound like Him, run to Him and let Him wash away the filth that covers you.
As we seek Him today, be the expression of whatever saying you choose that means you want to be more like Christ.
Have a terrific weekend.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
