I know what you may be thinking,
“What does this picture of a single plant sprouting from the ground have to do with my value?”
Stay with me on this and I will try and bring this altogether the way I feel the Lord is wanting me to.
The germination process of a plant is when a dormant seed begins to sprout and grow into a seedling under the right conditions and in the right soil.
How interesting is it that the seed, if laid on top of the soil instead of being planted within it, would not germinate nor bear any fruit but would be cast upon the wind or dried by the sun and die. Isn’t it also interesting that it took absolute darkness in the mud in order for this process to first take place.
“And this is what we were taken from for the Lord to create us? The dirt of the earth. Why not something more grand, or perfect or…….?”
Thinking about all of the different varieties of soil, spread across the planet, each has its own unique shades of color, composition and properties that make it unique, by design, with an intended purpose the Creator wished to draw from within each man and women that would walk its surface.
Genesis 2: 6-8 says this:
“6 But springs welled up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. 8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.…”
Our perception of each other, in the political climate we live in, is one of discrimination and a misunderstanding of the “true value” that God intended for us based off of our skin color versus understanding the soil from which we came and the value that soil represents to God.
Stay with me here…
What if our skin color was a representation of the earth from which we were pulled and created; each soil containing very unique elements and diversities by which certain corresponding elements thrive because it was designed by the creator but only in certain conditions?
“Would that make any one soil more valuable than the other?”
I believe that although many soils carry different minerals that can harvest fruit that may be considered by some to be more valuable, the Creator designed us to work in unison and not individualize ourselves for the traits we do have versus the traits we don’t but understand that the value we bring is so much stronger when used together versus separated and individualized.
Another way to think about this is to look at a natural filter that one could make at home to filter water out the impurities that could harm or even kill you. See the picture below.
The concept is quite simple. Take multiple different layers of sand, clay, soil and charcoal and the combination of them all make a filter that can completely eliminate any pathogens in the water that could be harmful to the human body. The water is poured at the top of the filter and as it descends, each layer, by design, will assist the previous layer in eliminating any harmful elements within the water while maintaining the purity within it until at long last nothing is left but pure filtered water at the bottom. What is even more interesting is if you just used any one element instead of them all working together, it would not only be useless against stopping those pathogens, but create a bitterness in the water or even completely clog the water altogether rendering it worth-less or have no value.
Isn’t it fitting for the devil to create an illusion of value based off of skin color when he knows all to well that we are stronger together than apart; that when we stand united we have the ability to completely filter out the pathogens of hate and unforgiveness and create life giving water, through unity, that is free from anything harmful that could separate us from the love of God that isn’t dictated by color but by birthright in His image.
I think the minute we as believers put aside our insecurities and misconceptions of value based off of what our eyes perceive instead of what our hearts and our spirits confirm, on that day….we will see His kingdom come and His will done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
I leave you with this final thought:
If we are the soil from which God has pulled us from the earth and together we can create life giving water free from pathogens and impurities that society and the devil continue to bombard us with, can you imagine the fruit we can bear once we are united together the way God had intended? The little plant you see in the headline photo is just the start. There is a harvest coming to the world and God is looking for those among us willing to get dirty and start planting these seeds. But I tell you the truth, it will take all of us. Not any one man or women. Not any one color or race. It will come when we are united and not divided. Many of us will hear the devil try and convince us that we are not strong enough, not smart enough, or talented enough. But I tell you the truth, we are all created to be of one body. The eye does not say to the hand “I don’t need you”, nor would it make sense that the entire body be an eye. Each of us are created unique and with specific purpose to be used in unity within the body of Christ. Our value to the body…priceless and irreplaceable. If we lose an eye, can we simply replace it? If our hand is cut off, can we simply grow it back? No…because we were designed to understand the value each of those parts bring to the body in order to appreciate the significance they have individually for the body. As such, learn to see the value you bring to others and the value others bring to you. Only then, will you understand the true value that we all bring; not just to each other, but to the kingdom of heaven.
1 Corinthians 12: 12-31
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[d]? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
God Bless