Beginnings and Ends

   “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)

   Our lives began with single reproductive cell from a woman, a single reproductive cell from a man and God’s will.  Those are the circumstances from which we all came.  The position, wealth or status of our parents was irrelevant to the process.  Regardless of the race or nationality of our parents; whether we were their first child or their third; even whether they actually planned for our conception was of no consequence to the process of our life’s beginning.

The color of our eyes, the color of our hair was known to God at the instant of our beginning.  Whether we would be a daughter or son, short or tall was determined at the point of conception.  God knit us together in our mother’s womb.  Everything about us was known to Him before we came into being.  We like to think that we are self-made men and women but in fact we had absolutely no voice in our beginning in this world.  God’s plan is why we are here and His plan determines how long we will remain on this earth before returning to the dust of the ground.

   In light of this reality we must understand that our beginning is of no importance in our journey; it is our ending that should concern us.  We are in God’s hands regardless of our earthly status.  When we recognize that this is true for each of us we can begin to see God and Jesus in our neighbors, our friends, and even our enemies.

   Our differences have caused so much hate and heartache in our world.  Isn’t it time for us to ignore what divides us and share the love and mercy of Jesus with everyone?  After all, each of us began life by the simple joining of a male and female reproductive cell and the will of God.