You are Special!
One of my favorite breakfasts is a cup of coffee and a slice of pizza. The pizza has to be left over from the night before and eaten cold from the refrigerator. The coffee needs to be fresh and hot. Pizza is one of those foods that I believe are good the night before and great the following day cold. Probably not the healthiest breakfast in the world, but what can I say?
Some of you are thinking "gross" and others are thinking that it sounds like a good breakfast to you. You see God didn't create us all alike. Each one of us is an individual, and while we might have similar likes and dislikes, or similar backgrounds, no two of us is exactly alike. Each of us is special to God.
Kind of like snowflakes or fingerprints. Out of all the billions of people who have been born, or all the innumerable that will come, no one is exactly like you or me.
God's fine hand of craftsmanship created each of us for a different purpose. He's given all of us a special purpose in life, a special ministry, a contribution to be made for all eternity. None of us here by accident. None of us is without a divine purpose.
Ephesians 2:10 NIV
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Think about what a blessing that is. God made YOU unique because He has something that only YOU can do in mind. That means that every person, young or old, rich or poor, Christian or not, has value beyond measure.
Ephesians 2:10 is one of my favorite scriptures. The word workmanship is the Greek word “poema” from which we derive our word “poem”. Each of us is God's personally handcrafted, individually designed poems.
We go to great lengths to see the treasures and wonders of the world, when the real treasures are all around us. The person you love is a treasure in God's eyes. The person at work who makes you crazy has value beyond measure. The street person, the criminal, the person who you disdain because of their lifestyle or skin color all are valuable in God's eyes. They too are God's wonderfully wrought poems. When you look down on them or treat them unfairly, you look down and mistreat the wonders and personal workmanship of God almighty.
It's no wonder Jesus said:
Matthew 25:31-45 NIV
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.
"Then the King will say to those on His right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?'
"The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.' "Then He will say to those on his left, `Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.'
"They also will answer, `Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?'
"He will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.'
Each of us is special to Him and He wants us to appreciate and care for one another the way He does. The more we are able to love and appreciate others for who they are, the more we are like Jesus.
Until next time, I pray God give you the eyes to see how unique and wonderful you are and how valuable ALL the people around you are in His sight (even those who like coffee and old pizza for breakfast).
Kevin
One of my favorite breakfasts is a cup of coffee and a slice of pizza. The pizza has to be left over from the night before and eaten cold from the refrigerator. The coffee needs to be fresh and hot. Pizza is one of those foods that I believe are good the night before and great the following day cold. Probably not the healthiest breakfast in the world, but what can I say?
Some of you are thinking "gross" and others are thinking that it sounds like a good breakfast to you. You see God didn't create us all alike. Each one of us is an individual, and while we might have similar likes and dislikes, or similar backgrounds, no two of us is exactly alike. Each of us is special to God.
Kind of like snowflakes or fingerprints. Out of all the billions of people who have been born, or all the innumerable that will come, no one is exactly like you or me.
God's fine hand of craftsmanship created each of us for a different purpose. He's given all of us a special purpose in life, a special ministry, a contribution to be made for all eternity. None of us here by accident. None of us is without a divine purpose.
Ephesians 2:10 NIV
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Think about what a blessing that is. God made YOU unique because He has something that only YOU can do in mind. That means that every person, young or old, rich or poor, Christian or not, has value beyond measure.
Ephesians 2:10 is one of my favorite scriptures. The word workmanship is the Greek word “poema” from which we derive our word “poem”. Each of us is God's personally handcrafted, individually designed poems.
We go to great lengths to see the treasures and wonders of the world, when the real treasures are all around us. The person you love is a treasure in God's eyes. The person at work who makes you crazy has value beyond measure. The street person, the criminal, the person who you disdain because of their lifestyle or skin color all are valuable in God's eyes. They too are God's wonderfully wrought poems. When you look down on them or treat them unfairly, you look down and mistreat the wonders and personal workmanship of God almighty.
It's no wonder Jesus said:
Matthew 25:31-45 NIV
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.
"Then the King will say to those on His right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?'
"The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.' "Then He will say to those on his left, `Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.'
"They also will answer, `Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?'
"He will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.'
Each of us is special to Him and He wants us to appreciate and care for one another the way He does. The more we are able to love and appreciate others for who they are, the more we are like Jesus.
Until next time, I pray God give you the eyes to see how unique and wonderful you are and how valuable ALL the people around you are in His sight (even those who like coffee and old pizza for breakfast).
Kevin
No comments:
Post a Comment