Weekly Devotions with Mike

Part of my new job as a Resident Chaplain at the V.A. in St. Cloud is to offer devotions once a week. Here's an excerpt from my last one:

Why are we so important to God that He would send His only Son to die for our sakes? It’s often a question I’ve pondered. And I don’t think I’m the only one or even the first. The psalmist once wrote, “What is man, that You care for him?” Yet care God does. But still why? I wish to explore that question a bit in today’s devotion and following. To answer it fully would take more time than I have here and now, so let me just give it a start and maybe wet your appetites to come back for more. I have come to see that God’s care for us began all the way back in the garden when He first created us. According to Genesis 1, we are each made in the image of God. To me this means that every person I come across here at the V.A and in the world is created in the image of God. Therefore when I get to know that person at their deepest level I’m am also getting to know God. When I care for that person, I am caring for God. When I sit and listen to that person go on and on about all their problems, I’m listening to God. When I touch another person, I am touching God. I could go on. Get it yet? In our day to day interactions with each other, we are not only rubbing shoulders with each other, we are also bumping up against God Himself. Truly a sobering thought, and yet also an encouraging one. God has lived in our flesh, He has seen us at our worst, and yet, still He bestows His love upon us. Let us return that love in our daily lives with each other.