It has been more than 24 hours since I read this passage from the One-Year Bible, yet the impact of the words in Psalm 22:29 didn’t overflow onto the keyboard until this morning.
I’m reminded by these words that earthly prominence counts for nothing when it comes to status in the afterlife.
These are important words for believers who are tempted to think they are inferior because they aren’t rich or popular or attractive or powerful.
The fact is that every soul is equally inferior to God and will acknowledge such on Judgment day.
“All who go down to the dust will kneel before Him — those who cannot keep themselves alive”
I’ve never met a person who doesn’t age.
Oh, I’ve met people who fight aging with great intensity.
But they still get older and less able than in the years preceding.
Despite their best efforts, they cannot keep themselves from the inevitability of death.
Just as I can’t.
We will all face God.
And the time will come in that meeting when we’ll kneel before Him in recognition of His sovereignty.
Whether we had careers in charge of hundreds or we quietly pushed a broom in the warehouse during the night shift, we’ll all kneel before God as sinful souls falling far short of the holiness God expected from us.
In a way, this verse does double duty.
It humbles those who are tempted to think they are better than others. After all, even the “special” people will have to kneel as inferior beings unworthy of parity with the perfect God.
The verse also encourages those who anguish with the lie that they are worth less than others. If the Bible says all will kneel before God, then that says there is no human — other than Jesus — who is superior to another in God’s sight.
So how does this verse and this Morning Devotion apply to your life and mine today?
God values every soul the same.
How do I know this?
Because God paid the same price for every soul.
He paid for your soul and mine with the blood of Christ.
Why? Because every soul has the same need.
Some of those kneeling in heaven will stand in glory forever.
Many of those kneeling will writhe in agony forever.
Why? Because they refused to bow their knee to Christ in this life.
Please resist the lie of Satan that you are more valuable to God than others.
Please resist, also, the lie that others are more valuable to God than are you.
Everybody sins and will answer for it if they don’t have Jesus speaking up for them.
Everybody is inferior to God in this life and will acknowledge such by kneeling before Him in the next life.
And everybody is offered — through faith in Christ — the opportunity to choose the gift of salvation by bowing the knee to God before death rather than after.
Please make sure that you have obeyed the Gospel so that your kneeling will be the precursor to your standing forever in glory.
That is SO much better than writhing in pain forever in hell.
Finally, the next time you feel the urge to act superior toward another — or to feel inferior to another — remember that all will kneel before God. That way, you’ll be more likely to share God’s love with another as a fellow sinner rather than as “big dog” or as a “whipped puppy.”
As always, I love you
Martin
