Then he (Jesus) said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24)
The world’s kingdom holds hatred and evil. That has become increasingly apparent since the murder of George Floyd by a policeman and the retaliation of violence. The enemy weasels his way into us feeding us lies, making us angry. The truth is God loves George Floyd, his family, and each of his neighbors, and God wants us to love them also.
God’s kingdom holds love. That’s why whoever wants to save their life must lose it. We must lose the part of us that thinks we’re better than others, the part that holds hatred and anger, the part that lies to ourselves and others. Every hurt is created by the enemy. Only when we rid ourselves of the enemy and love one another will we save lives.
George Floyd cried out to his mother before he died. His own mother died two years ago, but every mother and father of every race in the world heard that cry. We love our sons and daughters to the depths of our souls as George Floyd’s family loves him. In the midst of grief, the Floyd family took up their cross and asked for peace and love in their son’s name. God asks the same of us.
Father God, I pray for George Floyd’s family and George Floyd’s memory. Let his cry for justice be heard. Work miracles of love in George’s name in our government, in our police departments, in our schools, and on our streets. Take me out of my comfort zone to show me how to assist in those miracles so no one has to lose their son or daughter to violence. Let everyone pray a similar prayer, so we can make a difference one life at a time. In Your Son’s precious name, I pray, amen.
What happened to George Floyd is so horrible, and so hard to understand. A senseless loss of life. How does a family ever recover from that kind of loss? It is hard for me to understand that this happened because of the color of his skin. When I think about how things were when we were young concerning prejudice and segregation, I feel we have come so far. Obviously, not far enough. I don’t think we will ever be able to remove all hate in this world. You can’t change people if they don’t want to be changed. We need God’s intervention. We need to pray for people that are so full of hate and that God can change their hearts. We need to pray for George Floyd, that his life was not lost in vain and that somehow good can come from bad. We need to pray that there is justice in his name. We need to pray for his family and friends.
Police need to have more education. They need to understand the laws and apply them equally without profiling. How can the poor communities and African Americans convince local government to do something about their plight? Nothing has worked so far. I am not sure that “taking a knee” at sporting events is the answer. It has gotten people’s attention without violence, and I like that. But it has hurt all the races who are servicemen fighting for our country. Why can’t we just love one another and do what needs to be done?
Beautiful Jody. Such a sad week. This was wonderful to read. Blessings and love.
It touches my heart you read my devotions. Thanks for your encouragement. I’m glad it uplifted you. Blessings and love to you too.