Scripture: Romans 2:10-11
But glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.

Thought for the Day:  God does not show favoritism. Now, I’m not a biblical literalist by any means. But Paul is obviously writing exactly what he thinks here: God does not show favoritism. So, why do so many of us continue to insist that God does indeed play favorites? There’s an entire best-selling series of books and made for TV movies that are based on the idea God plays favorites. And those books were written by people who would tell you the Bible is the literal word of God, yet somehow completely miss what Paul clearly writes in literal black and white: God does not show favoritism.

If we’re to find peace on this planet, we all have to remember that God doesn’t play favorites. We’re equal, and in that equality, we have a duty to each other to do good to and for each other. Look what humans have accomplished in 250,000 years! I know we fight all the time, and I know there are evil people out there, like kings who kill their own people simply to retain power. I know it can be a destructive world, and that millions of us are broken and hurt, mentally, physically and spiritually. But we’ve also been to the moon and cured diseases that used to kill millions of us, and invented the transistor and the CPU and even things like the wheel and glass. We are an incredible species, and we’d be even more incredible if we’d stopped getting sidetracked by war.

Ultimately, the message of Christianity, the message we’re headed toward on Easter, is that it gets better. And it gets better here and now, and it gets better for all of us. Because God doesn’t play favorites.

Prayer: I know we’re all your favorites, Creator of Holiness. Keep knocking that into my head, so I’ll always act through you, and treat everyone with respect, even if I disagree with them. Amen.