What Makes Me Different From Dakota?

Dakota was a yellow Lab.  When our family moved to Abilene in 2001, we had a black Lab named Barkley.  Sadly, Barkley was hit by a car and killed.  Early in 2001, I preached in a Gospel Meeting in Friona, Texas and found Dakota who was a puppy.  Dakota loved life.  He loved running beside Lytle Lake and sniffing and retrieving rocks from the lake.  Sadly, Dakota lost sight in both of his eyes and his body deteriorated.  Just a couple of weeks ago, our vet assisted in his death.

This past Sunday, I taught our Middle School kids at Hillcrest and the title of my lesson was ‘What Makes Me Different From Dakota’?  The subject was not really Dakota.  The subject was the nature of humanity. 

When we as believers reflect upon God’s creation, we are like the Psalmist in Psalm 8.  Verses 3-4 say, ‘When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?’  There are absolutely amazing things God created in this universe and its vastness blows our minds.  But the most amazing piece of God’s creation is humanity.

God created inanimate and animate things, but humanity is the most amazing of God’s work.  The Psalmist goes on to say in Psalm 8, ‘You  crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet.’     

The animal world is amazing.  Their intricate body makeup is as complicated as the makeup of the human body.  But what makes humanity so special and unique is defined by words in Scripture like ‘soul’, ‘spirit’, ‘conscience’, ‘heart’, ‘mind’, and ‘will’.  As humans, we decide.  We choose.  We have a conscience that is pricked when we do evil.  As amazing as a pet can be—learning to do tricks and responding to our commands—no pet has the mind of man.

Today, as you look at your wife and your children and your loved ones, thank God for creating us ‘in His image’.  He created us ‘to last for eternity’.  He created us so that we will go on enjoying ‘relationships’ forever.  NOW THAT IS AMAZING!!!

Prayer:  God, we marvel at Your creation.  But, we marvel most of all at the way You created us.  Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. 

Terry Brown

Abilene, Texas