TODAY’S SCRIPTURE Genesis 1:27
Where did I come from? Why am I here? What am I supposed to do? Where am I going? Throughout history, humans have searched for satisfactory answers to life’s most important questions. In truth, the way we answer each of these questions determines the course our lives will take.

The answer to where we came from has far-reaching implications. Currently, there are primarily two competing ideas about how humans came to be. According to the atheistic idea, humans are a product of random, chance processes that have been going on for eons. This idea says that a huge explosion brought our universe into existence about 13 billion years ago, and in the distant future, our universe will suffer a heat death in which all life will be exterminated. According to this view, there is no ultimate purpose for humanity, and there is no ultimate meaning in life. Humanity’s existence here is simply a blip on the cosmic radar.

The Bible, however, presents an entirely different view of our origins. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. His all-powerful might and all-knowing intelligence crafted a world specifically designed for humans to thrive. Humans are not some cosmic accident, but are the crowning achievement of God’s creation. The holy council of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit purposefully made man in His own image.

Thus, God endowed humans, by the fact of their creation in His image, with value. The value of each human life does not depend on how intelligent, beautiful, athletic, or useful he or she is. Instead, every human life is valuable because it bears the imprint of the loving Creator. As the Founding Fathers so eloquently stated in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” As the children’s saying goes, “I know I’m worth something, because God don’t make no junk.” You are valuable because you are God’s creation.

Today, I will…remember that all humans are created in God’s image. I will treat myself and others with the respect and kindness that a work of art crafted by the Master’s hand deserves.