On Being Homogenized

     When you get milk from the cow, it isn't homogenized. We came up with that process in order to have equal amounts of cream present in the entire bottle of milk. Our ship was heading South along the coast of South America and docked at Montevideo, Uruguay. The things about this port is that it was the only port on our cruise where we could get fresh milk for the crew of the ship. It was pasteurized but it was not homogenized. The result was the fact that most of the crew members were drinking the top third of the bottle which contained the cream and then getting rid of the “skim” milk that was left. They did a good job of separating the cream from the milk. Separation in some things is good and in other things it is bad. Death is described as the separation of the soul and the spirit from the body but not the destruction of the soul or the spirit. In the second death, as described in the New Testament, the soul and the spirit are separated for eternity from God and is a terrible state. There is one matter that is not a cause for separation. Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

      The Apostle Paul provides a list of all of the things that will not separate us from the Love of God. As you read the list you see that it goes to the maximum of extremes and all of the opposites in order to state the fact that there is nothing that will separate us from the love of God. As if the list was not complete enough, Paul includes the phrase, “nor any other creature...” Why would he include such a phrase. The inclusion of this phrase also points out that even you cannot separate yourself from the love of God. We may not be too concerned about angels, principalities or powers, but we might think that we, ourselves, could make a separation between us and God's love. That, however, is not the case. There is not one thing that can make the separation between us and God's love, not even our own selves. No matter how I feel this morning or the next morning or the morning after that. I am still loved by God Himself. I notice day after day how quickly things can change in a person's life. It is like getting the spiritual wind knocked out of you by the situations in your life. I fell out of a hay mow one day right across the manger below and it knocked the wind out of me and I thought I was going to die, but I didn't. We can get the spiritual wind knocked out of us by the words of someone else or a gesture or action that is contrary to what we think is right. We can go from the mountain top to the valley in a split second and in those times, we still have the assurance that we have not been separated from God's love. When you go out into the world today, just realize that here is nothing that is going to separate you from God's love. You might have some terrible moments but always remember the passage for today. I remember walking with my parents and my hands were too small to grip theirs, but they had their whole hand wrapped around my whole hand and even when I stumbled, I didn't hit the ground. You and I are in God's hand and nothing is going to separate us from His love. Praise God today for His unending love for us. John 3:16