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When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:13-15

In his novel, Roots, Alex Haley traces the story of his family through several generations to find where he came from. Although the book’s validity was later questioned, it began a huge movement by people to search their ancestry to gain a picture of where they came from and, in a sense, what some of the things were that made them what and who they were ‘today’.

While revisiting our ancestors can be interesting and help us to gain insight into what went into making us what we are today, it’s far more important to realize who we were in the spiritual realm.

Read Colossians 2:13-15 on more time carefully and thoughtfully. “You were dead.” There isn’t a lot of good about dead people. Dead people don’t accomplish much. They don’t hold much value. Dead people are…well…dead. Dead athletes and dead politicians and dead homeless people are all pretty much the same…dead. The playing field is pretty level among dead people.

Read on. “God made you alive.” Mull that over in your mind. You were dead. God made you alive. Notice there are no qualifiers here. Nothing that says “Some of you helped God make you alive.” No hints that God made some of us ‘more alive’ than others. You were dead and God made you alive. Period.

What would your world be like if you treated everyone around you with the attitude that says “You were dead. I was dead. God made us alive. Therefore we are completely equal.” How would you respond to the person with a different political agenda or a different family background or different worship preferences or different sexual orientations?

Would people be more likely to listen to you if they knew that you accepted them as equals? Would you be more patient, more forgiving, more accepting of others if you kept in mind that they are no better or no worse than you are in God’s eyes?

When your path crosses the life of a person who is struggling with life remember your roots. It doesn’t matter if you grew up in a nice, safe, respected ‘Christian family’ or if you were the victim of abuse and dysfunction. In God’s eyes we all have the same past. Dead. Dead but made alive by Him through Jesus Christ.

The best news of all is, that even though you were dead, not only are you alive now, but your spiritual enemies have be completely disarmed! They are helpless and powerless beings whose only hope is that you will forget that you have the power, through Jesus, to defeat them.

Remember where you came from. Live in the power you have now because of Jesus!

PRAYER: Father God. I thank you for your great love and forgiveness. I ask that as I rub shoulders with the people in my world I would remember that I am no better or no worse that they are. I have all I have and am all I am because of Jesus alone. Empower me to live with that in mind. In Jesus name. Amen.