Lots of baking happened at our house over Christmas and the New Year holidays. We’ve had family home, and between their favorites, and friends dropping by plates full of goodies, I’ve enjoyed lots of delightful treats, filled with sugar and spice. My midsection bears proof of my pleasure.

The flavors we enjoy meld together during the baking process. Beginning from separate ingredients, fusing in the heat of the oven, they re-form into wonderful delicacies. Which we top with sugar.

Much like how the Lord made you and me and every person who ever lived.

God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

The Lord underscored the value of human life when He carefully instructed Noah on life after the flood. God stressed that if anyone sheds human blood, then their life is forfeit—for in the image of God has God made mankind.

God baked his image into you and me. Every person who’s ever lived, male or female, bears the flavor of that image. As a result, to destroy an image-bearer carries profound consequences.

Every person I will meet today holds the image of the God I claim to follow. The way I interact with my fellow image bearers reveals a great deal about whether my claims of devotion in my quiet room match my practices once I leave the house.

Genesis 1 & 9 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Monika Grabkowska