URC Daily Devotion 26 August 2024

Reflection
The song Viva la Vida by Coldplay is about someone who exercised great power but lost it suddenly to the extent that he ended up sweeping the streets he used to own.  Like the passage today it reminds us how precarious life and power can be where even the most powerful leaders can lose it overnight.
 
While part of us may feel that Nebuchadnezzar received what his pride and arrogance deserved, disaster can befall anyone at any time.  Many people down the ages know only too well what it is to lose everything overnight.  Today people are still having their lives turned upside down through accident, war, famine, oppression, climate change or diagnosis of a serious medical condition. In a world that seems increasingly unsure, we cannot be confident that it will not happen to us.
 
Nebuchadnezzar was reduced to the level of the beasts of the field.  Today’s sufferers retain their humanity but so often they are treated as subhuman regardless of race, skills, youth, or age.  They are seen as a threat to a country’s resources and security even though they have potential to offer whichever nation will give them a home.
 
We are all made in the image of God.  When we see, hear, and read stories about suffering, it’s easy to go along with the narrative that some politicians and sections of the media want us to buy into.  We need the help of the Spirit to resist this and give everyone the status and respect they deserve, regardless of their situation.

Prayer
Our world has always been precarious, and our present comfort can close our senses to this.  Help us not to be seduced by the clarion calls to see others as less than human, to be thankful for what we have, and be prepared to show God’s love to everyone, regardless of the situation they find themselves in. Amen.