On Level Ground

“Have you ever thought about it,” a fellow nurse asked me one day, “that going into Isolation makes us all equal?”

It’s true.  Our education, experience, age, and culture might be different.  Yet,  when patients need to be protected or when health care workers need protection, those going into the patients’ rooms wear caps, gowns, gloves, and masks. No stranger can tell who is the doctor and who is the aide.  They look identical.  The only distinction is the color of the eyes and size and shape of the bodies. The protective gear masks our title and position.

There’s a story about Jonah, the prophet who was told to go to Ninevah to warn the people of God’s coming judgment because of their sin.  Jonah didn’t want to go because he didn’t want to bring that message of doom.  He didn’t want to be the brunt of the anger of the Ninevites.  No prophet likes being shunned because of the message he brings.

Initially, Jonah went the other way and ended up in the belly of a “great fish”.  Three days and three nights inside that belly changed his attitude and he was off to Ninevah.  You can read the entire story here.

When God’s message came to the people of Nineveh, it was the same for each person, no matter the rank.  In the judgment God promised and in their response, the Ninevites were on the same level.

All of them recognized the awfulness of their sin.

All of them followed the king’s command to declare a fast and put on sackcloth, “from the greatest to the least.”

Royalty was no more regal than was peasantry.

All were the same in their need for repentance.  The pauper could not confess for the king,  nor could the king confess for  his people.

It matters not how great or how small we think we are.  Our rank does not  make us immune to God’s justice nor does it affect our access to the throne and grace of God.

Truly, the ground is level at the cross.  Have you found it so?!