Equally
"He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matthew 5:45 NIV)
Lately the weather where I live has been a bit unpredictable. Not in an extreme way (for the moment, at least), but in the sense that the weather can be a bit inconsistent from week to week. As in, one day can be warm and beautiful, the next cold and rainy. One day can be a bit cooler with sunshine, the next can be hot, muggy, and wet. There is even talk of frost for next week.
Even more unusually at times, certain parts of the state can receive different weather patterns. One part of the state can have a rainstorm, which disappears by the time it gets to the major highway a bit north of where I live. Some places have received major snowstorms, while others have received milder weather. It was even the case last year over Memorial Day weekend where, horrifyingly, a large series of tornadoes touched down only a few short miles north of the village I live in, destroying homes and displacing hundreds, yet other areas, even ones a mile from touchdown zones, were spared. In those cases, the touchdown zones affected people who seemingly had done nothing to deserve having their homes destroyed. It is as if the weather displays unequal treatment. It is even unfair at times.
Sometimes it may seem that life in general presents the same sort of situation: some seem to receive certain benefits, others do not. Some seem to be advantaged, others disadvantaged. Some even seem to receive a certain blessing, others do not. We sometimes wonder why people we consider "good" do not receive advantages and blessings, and others we consider "not good" do. Sometimes we may even think bad things happen to "good" people, and good things happen to "bad" people. We think that God is the reason for this, and that He is unfair.
We are reminded in today's Scripture verse, however, that God is, in fact, equal towards everyone. He is fair towards everyone. He is no respecter of ability or worth. He does not exclude people because of any kind of characteristic or ability. He does not act as we do, rewarding certain people because they act better, pray more, give more, or keep rules better than anyone else. We do not have to do anything to earn God's kindness, or become deserving of it - He is simply kind to everyone because that is who He is. He treats everyone equally regardless of who they are. He is kind and fair towards everyone, even the unfair and unkind. He does not even view character as being a qualification for blessing: He does not judge according to our standards of "good" and "bad" in giving His blessings. Rather, He gives His blessings to everyone equally, so everyone may experience His love, and, if they do not believe in Him already, come to believe in Him. He is just in that He treats everyone equally, and does not judge according to the same standards we do, because He looks on everyone equally - with equal love. He sends the same blessings to everyone else as He does to us. He is kind towards everyone else in the same way as He is to us. He loves everyone else the same way He loves us. God is truly good, because He is equally good to everyone.
Dear God, thank you that you are fair, just, and equal to everyone, and you love and care for everyone the same. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
"He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matthew 5:45 NIV)
Lately the weather where I live has been a bit unpredictable. Not in an extreme way (for the moment, at least), but in the sense that the weather can be a bit inconsistent from week to week. As in, one day can be warm and beautiful, the next cold and rainy. One day can be a bit cooler with sunshine, the next can be hot, muggy, and wet. There is even talk of frost for next week.
Even more unusually at times, certain parts of the state can receive different weather patterns. One part of the state can have a rainstorm, which disappears by the time it gets to the major highway a bit north of where I live. Some places have received major snowstorms, while others have received milder weather. It was even the case last year over Memorial Day weekend where, horrifyingly, a large series of tornadoes touched down only a few short miles north of the village I live in, destroying homes and displacing hundreds, yet other areas, even ones a mile from touchdown zones, were spared. In those cases, the touchdown zones affected people who seemingly had done nothing to deserve having their homes destroyed. It is as if the weather displays unequal treatment. It is even unfair at times.
Sometimes it may seem that life in general presents the same sort of situation: some seem to receive certain benefits, others do not. Some seem to be advantaged, others disadvantaged. Some even seem to receive a certain blessing, others do not. We sometimes wonder why people we consider "good" do not receive advantages and blessings, and others we consider "not good" do. Sometimes we may even think bad things happen to "good" people, and good things happen to "bad" people. We think that God is the reason for this, and that He is unfair.
We are reminded in today's Scripture verse, however, that God is, in fact, equal towards everyone. He is fair towards everyone. He is no respecter of ability or worth. He does not exclude people because of any kind of characteristic or ability. He does not act as we do, rewarding certain people because they act better, pray more, give more, or keep rules better than anyone else. We do not have to do anything to earn God's kindness, or become deserving of it - He is simply kind to everyone because that is who He is. He treats everyone equally regardless of who they are. He is kind and fair towards everyone, even the unfair and unkind. He does not even view character as being a qualification for blessing: He does not judge according to our standards of "good" and "bad" in giving His blessings. Rather, He gives His blessings to everyone equally, so everyone may experience His love, and, if they do not believe in Him already, come to believe in Him. He is just in that He treats everyone equally, and does not judge according to the same standards we do, because He looks on everyone equally - with equal love. He sends the same blessings to everyone else as He does to us. He is kind towards everyone else in the same way as He is to us. He loves everyone else the same way He loves us. God is truly good, because He is equally good to everyone.
Dear God, thank you that you are fair, just, and equal to everyone, and you love and care for everyone the same. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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