Bald But Not Forgotten!

Scripture Verse that caught my attention today: Leviticus 13:40 If anyone loses the hair from his head, he is bald but he is clean.

Observation: Not perfect, but still useful…and still God’s.

Application: I had to laugh when I first read this verse. But then I got to thinking about it more. Apparently, even back in those ancient Biblical days, there was the desire for men to keep their hair rather than lose it. Yet since no-one has control over such things, I find it interesting that the formational Scriptures include the assurance that baldness in and of itself does not make someone the scourge of society or, in Old Testament terms, “unclean.”

Sometimes I wish the books of the Bible were just as clear in regard to any number of other human conditions over which we may not have control. Name your disease, your race, your socio-economic status, your gender, your orientation, your family circumstances, your marital status, your parenting status, or most anything else you’d like to list. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a verse that said point blank, “You may be ________, but you are still clean.”

In reality, there are some verses like that. Galatians 3:28-29 comes to mind as but one example: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” Jesus himself said as much; “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32).

I realize that the Bible says other things as well, some of which seems to be almost the exact opposite of what I quoted above. But if one looks at the over-all direction of Scripture, it seems to me that God’s ultimate desire is to bless rather than curse, to reclaim rather than condemn. The Levitical clarification about the bald folks was only the beginning…

Prayer: Lord, help us to see people as you see them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings Today included Leviticus 13-14 and Acts 17)