In The Image Of Our Maker

TheDisicpleMd

My three associates and I were on our way back from a business meeting several years ago,  when the car in front of us spun out of control and slid off the wintry road into a ditch and flipped upside down.  It was almost surreal to watch it unfold in front of our eyes!  Yet, there it was!  We quickly pulled off the road just past the overturned car.  The auto had stopped spinning when we reached it and we could see the driver was hanging by his seatbelt. He appeared to be unconscious.  The windows were rolled up and the door was locked so we had no way of getting into the car to rescue him.  One of the guys hurriedly ran back to the car and came back with a golf club in hand.  Other cars had now pulled over and although only minutes had passed by a  crowd was gathered outside the car. Quick exits from warm cars left most of us without coats even though the temperature was well below freezing. My friend was now surveying which window he was going to break with the nine-iron he had in hand, when we heard a police siren.  Soon the scene included several police cruisers and an ambulance.  All of us pedestrians were ordered aside and we watched for a moment as the police brought equipment to get into the car.  We were all freezing so my friends and I turned and walked back to the car. I’m not sure what happened to the driver of that car.  I hope he was fine.

Later that day I thought how interesting it was that so many people immediately came to the rescue of a stranger with no thought of the possible danger involved.   Why had we done so?   My three associates and I only shared a common profession. We were of different faiths, backgrounds, and life experience.  I’m sure all the others that had ‘come to the rescue’ were of different backgrounds.   When the four of us saw that car turn upside down not one of us said, “Hey, should we help?” Instinctively, all of us knew it was the right thing. So what is it the compels humans to instinctively go out of their way to help in an emergency?

Many years ago Marion G. Romney spoke of the three phases of ‘the light of Christ.’  The most prominent of the three was the first one he mentioned which was ‘the light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world.” The other two he mentioned were the Gift of the Holy Ghost and the sure word of prophecy.  (“The Light of Christ”, GC, April, 1977)But it is the first, I believe, the light of Christ, that is responsible for the inherent good nature of man. The scripture say:

“For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil.” (Moro. 7:13-16)

Many might call this inborn ability to know good from evil as a conscience. But I am convinced, as are many others, that it is the spirit of Christ that automatically compels man to do the right thing. It is the teachings of man that can dull the spirit and teach him to ignore the inborn God-given nature to be of service, no matter the cost. History is littered with examples of individuals who have not only helped complete strangers, but there are many stories of those who have lost their lives while trying to help someone who is unknown to them.

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen. 2:7)

Truly, the God of us all breathed life into our first parents and by so doing he also breathed into us His spirit of goodwill and mercy. Man, the offspring of God, comes with divine attributes and a spirit of noble heritage.  While the natural man might be an enemy to God, the spiritual man comes from afar in blazing glory and in times of emergency, he seems to manifest himself more fully in the image of his maker.

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