Scriptural Reference:
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; 
my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being 
made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed 
substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed 
for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
Psalm 139:13-16

“You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
You have granted me life and steadfast love.”
Job 10:11-12

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like 
arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man 
who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks 
with his enemies in the gate."
Psalm 127:3-5

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their 
angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 18:10

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."
3 John 1:4            

Reflection:
Welcome to your first day on earth. Bewildered and upset you cry and struggle. Hands that are not more than a blur handle you. Moving you around as they work to make you comfortable. A reassuring breast and a voice soothes your ears. As you feel the heart beat of the mother that carried you for 9 months. There are voices of those saying things that you don't understand. But the sounds are soft and reassuring. This is the moment of your birth and your first sunrise as you take your first breaths of life.

Welcome to your first day on earth, Bruised and shocked you find your body being pulled and tugged in all sorts of directions. Harsh voices loudly make their presence known. You don't know what they are saying, yet the harshness seems to foretell something isn't going as planned. You need warmth and reassurance that you are going to be safe and loved. Yet there are no signs of this going to happen. This is your painful moment of birth and your first disturbing sunrise as you struggle to breathe.

Welcome to your first day on earth. Uncertain and cold. Callous hands wrap your body in rags to try and keep you warm. A woman holds you close to her frail body as she cries. The harsh and clamorous sounds come from all directions. The smell of poverty is something you can't understand. The sound of other voices coming and going. This is the tragic moment of your birth. Into a world of despair. Your first gasp at breathe.

In each of the scenarios a child is born. Each will have a future that will be carved and etched by the circumstances they were born into. One will be well loved and provided for. One will be disregarded as just another unwanted piece of baggage in life. One will be loved through poverty. Yet each will still have the chance to be different from where they were born. Each will have the chance to make their first breathe turn in to a life long challenge to be a change in the world they were born in to. And yes God is there all the way. Seeking moments to become the guiding light that will help them each to grow and mature.

How often do we each take time t reflect and take stock of all the we have and all that we can do? Have we taken from life more then we have shared? Or have we only lived to nurture and feed who we are? Life was never meant to be so greedy or selfish. People were never meant to survive at the cost of others. Nor were people ever meant to become so self absorbed that we become blinded to the world around us.

Yet "Humans are toxic" as one of my quotes says. Humans may work hard to do what ,ay be deemed to be the right, moral, good and altruistic thing. Yet it takes effort. An effort that will constantly fail. Because, without God, humans will constantly fall. This was written from the very first fall from God Grace in the garden. A fall that has stained all of humanity. Something that takes a decision to trust In Gods' Son Jesus the Christ. So that through Him we will be able to begin to grow beyond our first breathe and our first sunrise.

We are each born into the world in many different ways and under many different conditions and circumstances. We are born in a world and for the most part part of the world. Yet this changes when we accept Jesus the Christ as our Lord and Saviour. From whom our redemption and salvation in founded.

Have you made the choice to step away from your first sunrise and into your second sunrise?

 

Prayer:

Heavenly Father,
I recognise that
My first breathe of life
My first challenge to live
My first sunrise
Was only the beginning.

Help me as I,
Take my first step of faith
Face a world in denial
Embrace who I can be.

Amen