… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God … - Romans 3:23

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 31, 2015): Romans 3

I love the Sikh practice of wearing a turban. Others may rail against the practice, especially when a person is undertaking a task in support of the public, but for me it is a good reminder of exactly who it is that I am. A Sikh wears a turban to bind up his hair which has never been cut. The idea is that God who creates and provides, created us as he needed us to be. By cutting our hair and our beards (which out of honesty I need to admit that I do in regular fashion – usually on a daily basis for the latter) we are giving in to the concession that there is something about us that needs to be changed. A Sikh disagrees. This is exactly how God intended me to be, so instead of cutting the hair, I will bind it up inside the turban – and this turban and the length of the hair bound within it serves as a reminder to me, and to others, that God doesn’t make junk. I simply am as God created me.

I don’t wear a turban, shave daily, and cut my hair regularly if not frequently (the last time I sat in my hairdresser’s chair she reminded me that it have been fourteen weeks since I had last occupied that spot, I honestly hadn’t realized that it had been that long – the cutting of my hair has never been a favorite task of mine, or one that I desired to commit myself to unnecessarily.) But I agree with my Sikh friends that God has created me just as he intended me to be – and that God values who it is that I am.

Having said that, while I am as God wanted, often my actions fall short. I sin. I go against what God wants for me. But those blemishes in my life do nothing to decrease my worth. Or maybe better said, even though my actions often don’t measure up, I continue to be what God has created me to be. It is just hidden under, sometimes, layers of dirt. And even as a Christian I need to understand that. I am like a child who misbehaves. My value is not lessened even in those moments that I stand in need of discipline from my parents.

And this is the heart of the Christians message of Good News. The dirt that has collected on all of us, has in no way devalued the product. God believed that so strongly that he that he sent his Son to die on a cross so that the dirt could be removed once and for all – the person that God intended me to be, the one that was hiding underneath all of the dirt, could now finally be revealed. And every time I see one of my Sikh friends dressed in their turbans, that is the message of which I need to be reminded.

Tonight we celebrate New Year’s Eve. A time for looking back … and for looking forward. Traditionally it is a time for the making of resolutions on things that we would like to change about ourselves. But just for a moment, may I remind you that you are as God intended you to be. All that really needs to happen is that we allow the God who created us to wash off the dirt that as collected on us through the process of living. And for that task, God has already paid the price. This year, let the washing simply begin.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Romans 4

Personal Note: Happy Birthday to a great Son-in-law.  Have a great day Greg!