Blue and Gray

The old '63 Chevy blue is slowly being replaced by
Pep Boys Varsity Gray Primer. It's still both blue
and gray, like my Civil War great-great grandfathers.
One fought for states rights, the other for big
government. Big government was against slavery. That's
the side I'll choose. Not big government, but freedom
from owning other people. Equality.

"Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said,
'Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very
religious; for as I was passing through and considering the
objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this
inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

'Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him
I proclaim to you. God, who made the world and everything
in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell
in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men's
hands, as though He needed anything; since He gives to all
life, breath,and all things.

'And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell
on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-
appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so
that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might
grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each of
us; for in Him we live and move and have our being.'" Acts 17:22-28

You can't get inequality from a common ancestry and common blood.
In God's sight, "all will appear before the judgment seat of God"
for "all have sinned." That's equality. Equally guilty according
to Paul's letter to the Romans, chapters 1-3. God doesn't judge by
outward appearance. He judges all sin without prejudice or favortism
using perfection as the yardstick. Only His Son, Jesus, has lived that
perfect life.

Where does that leave me, the imperfect sinner? Under God's judgment.
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been
justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him."
Romans 5:8,9

The sin penalty has been paid by the only One who could pay it, the
Son of God. I can't pay for my own sin, even though I spend an eternity
enduring God's wrath. Only Christ can make a substitutionary payment
on my behalf that satisfies God's demand. Love and grace defeating
sin, death and eternal darkness and separation.

Yes, we are all 'free' and equal in an earthly sense. We all bear God's image.
But in a spiritual sense, we are all slaves. Slaves to sin. Slaves to
despising God having any rule over us. Slaves to thinking life is all about
me and God's way be damned. Deaf to the truth of God's word and the joyful
life He promises to those who turn to Him in faith and love. Blind to the
beauty of His holiness.

Lord, open eyes, ears and hearts to receive You even now.