2-11-2023

Good Morning All,

   Psalm 139:14; “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

    So what are you made of?  If the old nursery rhyme is to be trusted,

                                 Snips and snails and puppy-dog tails;
                                 That's what little boys are made of.

                                 Sugar and spice and everything nice;
                                 That's what little girls are made of.

 

Yet how do you view you?  Many people see themselves in terms of their usefulness, or reputation, or intellect.  All too often we allow the world to continually trivialize people to the menial status of producers, consumers, performers, and “experiencers”.  When you lose these statuses; the world can push us down and see us as worthless.  It can cause us to look at our self as weak, worthless, with no value at all.  What are we worth if we do not produce or perform or consume or experience? 

    This is what happens when we look through the eyes of the world and not through the eyes of faith which God gives to us.  We need to remember what the Psalmist says.  I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  We are an eternal, irreproducible, eternal child of God.  Created by Him, redeemed by Him, kept safe by Him; valued and treasured by Him.  We have tremendous value that the world will never see but God does.  The world judges us in many fashions.  It sees us as lazy or greedy; selfish or foolish; fat or narcissistic; self-absorbed or clueless; it doesn’t matter how the world sees us for we do not belong to the world.  We belong to God.

     So don’t look at yourself through the narrow prism of the world; see yourself as God does; his loved child.  For since we are redeemed by God, we are his; claimed through Baptism.  We are more than our goals or dreams and aspirations.  We are more than our foibles and failures.  We are the redeemed children of God; blessed by Him, cared for by Him, sustained and preserved by Him, brought to eternal life by Him.  When we look at our self, we should see the Spirit of God within us.  The most important part of us is often overlooked by us and always overlooked by the world; God’s Spirit living in us giving us hope as we face each challenge of each day.  Whether it is a crisis of health, wealth, relational or just of or own personal confidence God is there to see us through.  He sees us through all we will ever deal with or experience.  We are fearfully and wonderfully made by God and redeemed by his grace.

Dear Father in heaven, too often we look at our self and see nothing of value but you chose us, you saved us and now you hold us as your own.  Give us to the strength to hold to you with all boldness and confidence.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret