Singer Stamped

I'm a fan of Ravi Zacharias, the Christian apologist. I've read some of his books. I've poked around his website. And mostly, I've listened to dozens and dozens of his podcasts.

One of my favorite Ravi-isms... his observation about Jesus and taxes.

What?

Well, sort of. You remember the story? It appears in the synoptic gospels. Matthew 22:15-22, for example. The Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus, so they ask him about taxes. He asks for a coin, reminding them whose image is stamped on it. "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God," he says.

Then comes Ravi's brilliance. He says something like, the Pharisees missed an opportunity to ask a follow up question, "What belongs to God?"

Jesus might have said, "Whose image is stamped on you?"

Sisters and brothers, whose image is stamped on you?

"Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us." Genesis 1:26

The image of God, of Jesus, of the Spirit, is on you. Stamped on you. Imprinted on you.

Astounding.

Understanding Who God is and what God does takes on a whole new dimension, doesn't it? Who God is has been stamped on you. What God does has been imprinted on you.

In Zephaniah 3 we experience God as a singer. You've been made in the image of a singer. Not only is God singing over you, God's image is expressed when you sing over someone else.

So sing! With all you are, sing! Sing lullabies to little ones. Sing praises to the holy One. Sing love songs to your beloved one. Sing when you're by yourself, sing when you're with friends, and please, sing when you worship.

Sing to the One who is singing over you. Sing of the One who knit you together--as a singer.

It doesn't matter if you sound good when you sing; it does matter that you do what God made you to do. Life is better when we live it the way God created us to live.

So sing like God made you for it. He did!