We have folks that are prejudiced against women, white urban males, the Polish, the Jews, the Russians, the Turks, and even the local ball team. It’s been this way through out history, and it always will be.
In this process of not wanting to be prejudiced, I think we have lost focus on the freedom of choice.
It’s okay to be proud to be an American. It’s ok to be proud to be …. And you fill in the blank. If you are proud of your heritage or culture or even race, it does not mean that you are prejudiced against another. It also does not make you better than anyone else. It just means you are happy to be who you are.
Then again, perhaps it is only that tick away – when you begin to feel you are better than everyone else – that you become prejudiced.
Here is an example from scripture of what I mean.
And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.
Genesis 24:2-7
In this case it was customary for the parents to pick the wife for the son from the folks they knew in the country from whence they came. The bottom line is that Abraham wanted a wife for his son that was from their kindred. He wanted Isaac to have a wife that held the same beliefs and had the same cultural background. It was a spiritual decision.
Isn’t it interesting how we can focus on what Abraham wanted – a spiritual match for his son and celebrate freedom of choice, or we can focus on what he did not want – a wife from the Canaanites, and call it prejudice.
LIFE APPLICATION
Key Focal Verse:
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Titus 1:2
Today’s challenge is to keep praying for revival. Pray for America to see God in the midst of the storm. Pray for Americans to hold on the freedoms God has given her – freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press to name a few. Pray for Americans to see each other as Americans and not be divided by any form of prejudice. Pray for our upcoming elections. May God Bless America.