Sunday, January 17, 2021

NO COOKIE CUTTER PEOPLE

 Psalm 139:14

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

                 I have been rereading Dr. Richard Swenson’s book More Than Meets the Eye. The book is a celebration of God’s creativity. In the opening chapters, Dr. Swenson focuses on the wonders of the human body. One of the things that has grabbed my attention is the uniformity and uniqueness that is masterfully combined in every human being.

                In many ways, every human being is the same. We share the same general bodily configuration. Our bodies are organized in a uniform way. The systems within our bodies all operate under the same set of rules. We all process food into usable energy in the same way. We all gather information from our environment in the same way. The blood that courses through our veins is interchangeable between human beings. Even the major organs of the body, given the right circumstances, are exchangeable. When we look at human beings as a whole, we see that we are all alike. Human beings in the norm are incredibly uniform.

                But when we begin to look closer at individual human beings, we quickly discover that we are amazingly diverse. Isn’t it amazing that we have the ability to pick out a specific person from within a large crowd? Although there are many similarities between people, there are also specific differences that make each person unique.

                From the outside we see this in the form of the main features that make up each person. We all have eyes, but our eye color varies. We all have hair, at least at the beginning of life, but our hair color varies. We all have ears and noses, but all ears and noses are not the same shape or size. Our hands and feet, although uniform in one way, are different in size and shape. Even our overall body shape varies from person to person. We gather all of these things into general categories, but that does not negate the vast array of differences.

                When we look more closely, we discover that there are things about each of us that are uniquely us. We are all aware that our finger prints are unique. We have discovered that the retina of our eyes is even more unique. Even our footprints is unique as well.

                If we dig deeper, we discover that we don’t all learn in the same way. We perceive our world in ways that are unique to us. Again, we have been able to gather these characteristics into general categories, yet when we put the pieces together, we come up with a unique individual. Similarity does not equate with uniformity. As David said in Psalm 139, we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

                When God looks upon this earth that He created, He does not see the mass of humanity. Instead, He sees each individual. He knows each of us intimately, even down to the number of hairs on our head. He knows not only our outward actions, but our thoughts as well. He is completely aware of our struggles, temptations, and challenges. David expressed this reality in the opening lines of Psalm 139.

Psalm 139:1-4

O Lord, you have searched me

and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O Lord.

                We are living in a world that constantly wants to negate the uniqueness of each person. Instead of celebrating just how unique we are, we are told that we are all the same. We are pressured to conform to a standard image of what a human being should be. It is no wonder that people rebel, withdraw, and implode. God created every person in His image, yet He created every person as a unique individual. And one day we will each stand before God and give an account of what we did with this unique life.

                The most exciting and important thing about our uniqueness is that it allows us to be known individually. We are not just another human being; we are a specific human being. We can be known by others, but most importantly we can be known by God. When Jesus looks upon us, He does not identify us by our genus and species. He calls us by name.

John 10:2-3

The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

 

John 10:14

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--

 

 

 

 

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