Looked outside the other day to see have the neighborhood walking through the garden – they were looking for a pet rabbit.

The owner doesn’t really like her, she is obnoxious and bites and scratches if they try to pick her up.  She runs off and can’t be found, but still it is their rabbit and they are responsible for it – AND it is pregnant due to give birth within a week or so.

Carla spots her out in the garden, sometimes, eating grass – so far she hasn’t dug up any veggies that Carla is aware of.  She saw her again today in the open shed we can “Dorothy” (long story) and moving around in the area.

We are a bit concerned, not so much for her since it sounds like she can take care of herself, but we have cats and every neighbor around us has a cat or two, and those little ones are going to be fair game if she has them in the open.

While we don’t live in the country, Carla has plenty of ground to take care of and I am sure the rabbit feels like she is home in the wild.

Ephesians 2:8-10  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.

¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

This morning I was thinking about the differences in people and how we classify them.  As I was getting ready to write this I talked to Norman who mentioned he had been at a 60 year wedding anniversary.  His comment was you can sure tell the difference between city folk and country folk – I heartily agree and it just confirmed what the Lord had been laying on my heart this morning.

People like to put other people in pigeon holes, there may be some overlapping, but they want to designate who others are by:

Color of skin

Country of birth

Old vs young with different names for different decades

Urban, suburban, country

Male, Female

Profession

Parts of country – west coast vs. east coast, north vs south, one state vs another, parts of the state vs other parts.

Conservative vs liberal

Public schools vs Private schools

One organization vs or in addition to another

Everyone is part of a group designated by the World.  It makes it easier to ‘classify’ someone.

All of us relate to and identify with at least one group, but more likely several different ones.

Often there is finger pointing and accusations between groups and a stronger feeling of unity or distaste can be the result.

If you were asked to describe yourself and why you are in a particular group(s), how would you do it?

Of course some have been doing this as they put their ‘profile’ on the various social media sites, so they may be a little more in tune to some of their likes and dislikes.

Frankly, most of us rarely think of ourselves as this or that, although we know we fit into segments society has placed us – either by our choice or someone else’s decision about us.

Me?  Husband, Father, Father-in-Law, Police Officer, Central Oregonian, Conservative and the list could go on and on.  Depends on who you are trying to relate to – and it could be different depending on what you are doing at the time.

But the two groups that crosses every other one of the others, and you are either a member of that group or you are not is a Child of God through His Son Jesus Christ.

That is the only thing God cares about.  Yes, there are those that are more dedicated, whose heart is more in tune with Him, who follow His precepts better than others – but if we have not been saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, confessing our sins and accepting that sacrifice – we do not belong to Him.  We are not in His group!  Period.

Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Mathew 25:31-33 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

³² And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

³³ And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

As far as God is concerned there are only two groups, the sheep who are the children of God and the goats who are not.

Color of shin, nationality, church affiliation, who our parents are, (or aren’t) what our profession is - none of it matters, absolutely none of that is what God is concerned about.  Either we are saved or we are not.

The decision is ours; no one can place us in either group EXCEPT us.  We either accept Christ, or we do not – no one can do it for us and we cannot grab onto the shirt tales of those that have selected Christ. 

My prayer is that everyone reading this chooses God’s group, to be with God through Christ.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again