The Bible Verse of the Day for September 21st, 2017 came from Isaiah 53:3(NIV), although I would like to throw in verse 2 of Isaiah 53 as well:
He grew up before him
like a tender shoot,
and
like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or
majesty to attract us to him,
nothing
in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a
man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people
hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low
esteem.
Chapter 53 of Isaiah prophesies the coming of Jesus. In particular, it prophesied the suffering that He would soon endure while walking on this earth. What I find fascinating about the preceding verse is that it paints the picture of a mere man; someone not particularly pleasing to the eye, or even notable in the beginning. He would be considered 'basic' by our standards. Nothing more.
And yet, the man that was oh so despised by humanity was ultimately the one called and deemed savior. This man with the beautiful and powerful name, bled the same as you and I.
Considering all of this, I must ask:
If we bleed the same as Christ, then why do we treat each other as if we don't?
The Church, historically speaking, has always been divided. Many of these divisions were centered on matters concerning theology or tradition. In recent days, however, it seems as if the Church is becoming more divided culturally. In particular, it has now become common for these words to pass through a Christians' lips: Racist. Libtard. Bigot. Republican this. Democrat that. These are the labels that we give each other now. We are no longer known by the good we do or the love that we demonstrate, but by how we perceive each other when we share our thoughts. We have essentially made it normal to view each other as the scum of the earth.
For the world at large, I suppose this is expected. For those that proclaim Christ as their savior, however, there is no excuse for this.
The next time you engage someone on an issue, ask yourself: Who is it that you are talking to? Is it just a mere person? Or is it someone who bleeds the same as Christ did?
