Red and Yellow, Black and White

 

Jesus loves the little children

All the children of the world

Red and yellow, black and white

They are precious in His sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world

 

I remember singing these words as a child.  I've thought about those words a lot lately.  Without going into detail (because I do not want to draw attention to any of these groups) it seems that racism is alive and well in our country and our town today.  Groups of every skin color and religion are spewing hatred for people that are different from them. I just do not understand how one human being can have hatred for another human being based solely on the color of their skin or what they look like on the outside. It is ridiculous really. The body that we are in is no different than a suit of clothing.  The only thing that matters is who we are on the inside of the suit.

 

 

 

  How absolutely absurd would it be for me to say..."I hate that guy because he is wearing a green suit.  I have never met him, but I hate him. And not only do I hate him, but I want you to hate him, too.  As a matter of fact, I hate anyone that wears a green suit."      

 

Ridiculous, right?  

 

And what is even more ridiculous? When people use God's word to promote hate.  My bible says that God created ALL human beings.  It also says that Jesus died for ALL human beings. 

And more importantly, it says this,

 

"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.   If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."  Galatians 3:28-29    

 

God is love.  He loves every person that he created. In fact, we are all created in His image.  He sent His son to die for us, that is how much He loves mankind.  And through our acceptance of the death of Jesus, we become brothers and sisters with one common goal.  

 

^" Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

Ephesians 2:19-22

 

Red, yellow, black or white we are ALL precious in His sight. Therefore, we should be precious in the eyes of one another. 

 

 

 

Straddling the Fence

During a sermon at church one day, our pastor talked about Christians who were “straddling the fence”.  This brought to my mind one particular afternoon in my childhood when my brother and I were out exploring behind our farm house.  There were barbed wire fences outlining all of the separate pastures, so to get across the fences we would take turns prying two of the prickly strands apart for the other to crawl through. This took patience and precision!  On this particular day, I let my brother through first and then he pried the strands of wire open for me to crawl through.  I carefully bent over at the waist and put one leg through, placing my foot on the ground on the other side.  As I attempted to pull the other leg through, I realized that my long pony tail was caught on the top strand and that I was stuck…I was literally straddling that barbed wire fence! 

 

 

 

 Now just imagine how uncomfortable that was being trapped there atop that razor sharp barbed wire with one leg on each side.  I couldn’t go back the way I came from and I couldn’t move forward to the other side.  Isn’t this just like the Christians that want to keep one foot in the old way of life and one foot in their new life with Christ?  They are stuck.  They cannot be fully surrendered to either side. 

 

 

Imagine that one side of this fence is the old sinful life…pre-salvation.  Sometimes newly converted (and sometimes not-so-newly converted) Christians try to hold on to their past lives of sin, even after giving their heart to Jesus.  But because the Holy Spirit is residing in them, they do experience conviction.  This makes it pretty miserable for them every time they slide back into their old ways.  As a Christian, going back to visit the sins of the past will never make them happy.  Therefore, they are not fully surrendered to sin. 

 

John 16:8 NLT “And when He comes [Holy Spirit], he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.”

 

On the other side of this fence is a new life in Christ…post-salvation.  Many Christians see others that have peace and joy and seem to flourish in the Lord’s work, but they just can’t get to that place in their walk because the old familiar sin keeps them tied to their old life.  They are afraid of change; afraid to step over into the unknown.  Therefore, they are not fully surrendered to God.

 

Romans 6:22-23 NIV “ But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 This is a very uncomfortable position to be in.  The bible tells us in Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.”  Christians straddling the fence are trying to serve two masters and they are miserable.  Why would anyone choose to live this way? 

As I crouched there that day, stuck between those strands of barbed wire with my hair holding me in place, all I wanted was to be free. I think that’s what “Fence-Straddling Christians” want too…they want to be free.  My brother was there to help me and untangle me from that fence.  He pulled me through to freedom on the other side.  I believe our job as Christians is to help our brothers and sisters get free. We need to stop judging and start praying…just as scripture instructs us to do.

I John 5:14-16 NIV “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life.”

Are you straddling the fence, stuck between two lives?  Ask the Lord to rescue you today.  Move forward with Him and He will give you peace and freedom like you have never known. Or maybe you know someone that needs your help getting off of that fence?  Commit to pray for them today. Help them get untangled from sin by loving them and being a good example.  Freedom is waiting on the other side of the fence.