I meant to thank Tony Delucia for writing the Daily Wonder while I was away at seminary. Thanks for great devotionals the last two weeks, nurse Tony!

Scripture: Genesis 1:26
Then God said, cheap “Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Thought for the Day: God’s nature is righteousness—just, merciful, compassionate and loving. As beings created in this image, our nature is the same. We are not by nature corrupt, uncaring, sinful. We often act badly because we have disconnected ourselves from our Source, but inherently, we are loving and compassionate beings. How can something made in the image of God be anything else? Yet, we can simply turn on the news to see humans acting like anything other than loving creatures. We rarely seem to reflect God’s nature.

It’s easy to understand why so many people think humans are, by nature, “sinful”—lacking compassion and love. The world appears an unjust place; people take advantage of and abuse each other far too often. But think about it this way: a fruit tree will only bear fruit if it is watered and nourished, otherwise the fruit will wither and die, or worse, the tree will never even produce a blossom. This doesn’t mean the fruit tree is, by nature, evil and corrupt, it’s simply malnourished.

We are also capable of bearing the fruits of love, mercy, compassion and justice, but if we do not feed our souls with the presence of God, those capabilities simply whither and die. The fact we turn away from our true nature doesn’t change our true nature. We are created as loving and merciful beings. Yet as we get lost in the material world and disconnect ourselves from God’s presence, we forget who and whose we really are. Fortunately, God is always around and within us, never giving up on us, God the constant gardener, always watering and fertilizing us, so that, like the fruit tree, we will blossom.

Prayer: I’ve been brainwashed to think I’m worthless, God who imbues all things with worth. Wake me up to the realization that I reflect your nature of loving compassion and mercy, so that I might blossom into the fullness of new life in you. Amen.