"Know"

Don’t know just why we felt that way,

It’s just the way it was,

Didn’t hardly question it,

It was that way because,

It’s just the way our family felt,

And generations long,

Passed down from fathers to their sons,

And never thought it wrong.

We thought our people better,

You just can’t get around it,

But we weren’t mean and hateful,

With ourselves we saw more profit.

But down deep ran that feeling,

And it simply wasn’t right,

And I know when it changed for me,

And when I saw the light.

It’s when the Savior touched me,

And I knew that He died,

For me and all that I had done,

I admit it, my heart cried.

And once I was forgiven,

He helped me clearly see,

That Jesus died for black and white,

And not only just for me.

I realized He bought us,

And that’s just what we’re worth,

And if He paid that kind of price,

His blood shed to the earth,

To think that we were better,

Was sinful, selfish, too,

And praise the Lord He broke that curse,

That so long had come through.

He exchanged it for a blessing,

For my kids and grandkids, too,

Don’t deal with all that prejudice,

The way I had to do.

Nothing left but Jesus’ love,

And let it flow to all,

Salvation freely given,

If on Him they will call.

“For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold and silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.” (1 Peter 1:18-19, NLT)

The value of anything is determined by what is paid for it. When Jesus’ shed His blood for us, it determined for all time and eternity what human beings are worth. And how is it measured? By what was paid, the blood of Jesus. The cross shows me my greatest need, to be forgiven for my sins. But it also shows me my greatest value, the cost of my ransom. This changes everything. If human beings can be devalued, any misconduct toward them can be justified. But if they have eternal worth, it is a serious transgression to harm them. I must learn to value what God values. We are most like God when we do.

Lord, help us to value all people, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Bill Anton, billantonstudios.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Bill, and God bless you.