Dr. King's Legacy

Today we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, civil rights activist who passed away forty-nine years ago. Dr. King was not just an activist, but also a Baptist minister who displayed his Christian beliefs in his fight for civil rights by advocating nonviolence and racial equality.

Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech is still hailed as a masterpiece of oratory and stirs my heart no matter how many times I hear it. One line that is often quoted and stands out for a lot of people is this: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!"







It is ironic that fifty-four years after Dr. King delivered that speech, this dream remains just that - an elusive dream.  Oh sure, we have made great strides. We have had an African-American president, and minorities play a great role in every sector of our society, but some people are still marginalized because of the color of their skin, or where they were born. 

But there is a saying, "the more things change, the more they seem the same." In Jesus's day, racism -and segregation - was rampant. Take this conversation with the Samaritan woman. Jesus saith unto her, give me to drink. (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. ) John 4: 7 - 9.

The woman was stating a known fact. Jews did not associate with Samaritans, who were considered inferior as they were a mixed race. Jesus was on a mission to change all that. After He'd spoken to the woman, she went and told the people of the village what Jesus had told her and they all came out to meet Him.  

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did (John 4: 39 - 40).

The story doesn't end there. The book of Acts tells us, "When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria" (8: 14).



^{From that one meeting with a woman at the well, a whole nation was saved. Jesus's message is as clear now as it was then, and we have a great reminder in the legacy of Dr. King.}

Dealing With Your Past

Do you sometimes feel that no matter what you do you cannot live down your past? Do you keep looking back at where you came from and think you will never get to where you want to be. That may very well happen. Someone said, the reason the rear view mirror is so small and the windscreen so big is because what happened in your past is not nearly as important as what's in your future.

God puts it this way:  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29: 11). 

When we are in Christ, we can look with confidence to the future because He holds our future. In the Bible, there is a woman named Mary Magdalene, who seemed shackled to her past. Whenever people spoke of her, they would refer to her as the woman out of whom went seven devils even though she'd been healed and was now a follower of Jesus Christ. He saw her as a new creature, clothed in His righteousness, and so when He rose from the dead, He chose her to be the one to go and spread the good news.

Are you like Mary Magdalene today? See yourself as God sees you, a new creature. The past is over. 2017 is behind you. Learn from its lessons, but don't keep looking into that rear view mirror, or you may end up where you don't want to be. 

"Behold, I will do a new thing; now shall it spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert" (Isaiah 43: 19).

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A Lesson Learned

Christmas 2017 is now over, and a New Year has come. All that remain are the leftovers of our sumptuous indulgences, the added inches around our middle, and the memories. For some, the memories are great, for others, not so good. But as I wrote on my other blog, Christmas is, and always has been, the best time of the year for me.

However, this Christmas was a little bit different, as circumstances conspired to keep me from doing some of the things I usually do. I'd made up my mind that I would not enter a store during the busy shopping season. I would simply give everyone a gift card. Not a bad idea, right? But at the last minute, on the day before Christmas Eve, I decided to go and pick up a few things to put under the tree. After all, gift cards don't look as nice as beautifully-wrapped boxes, do they?

So off I went, into an insanely-crowded store, grabbed a few items and waited in line for more than an hour before getting to a counter. And that's when things got really interesting. I should have paid for my stuff and walked out, but instead a men's watch in a locked cabinet had caught my eye. I told the cashier I wanted to get it. I left my stuff on the counter and followed the man to the cabinet where I showed him the watch I wanted for my husband. When we got back to the counter, all my stuff was gone! Vanished! I left with two items, a bad case of frustration, and a back screaming for mercy.

On my way home, I berated myself for getting caught up in something I had no business being in. I'm not saying I shouldn't have bought presents for my loved ones, but would they have loved me less if I hadn't? I don't think so. They are used to me giving them stuff, not only at Christmas but all through the year.

Love cannot be bought with things. God's gift to us was not things, but a Person in the form of His Son Jesus Christ.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that all who believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3: 16

Spending time with my loved ones and sharing the love of Jesus with them is far more important than any amount of toys or baubles I could have bought.

And so, my friends, maybe that’s the reason I got sick on Christmas Day. I came down with a nasty case of the flu – runny nose, sneezing and headache. Was God trying to teach me a lesson? I don't know, but I think I learned something. At least for this year. God bless.

Happy New Year!


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