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Written by Aaron Sparks
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Sunday, 21 December 2008 00:00 |
This morning I was thinking about how intimately God knows me. He knows me better than anyone else in the world, including my parents and even myself! I thought, “How can God see, hear, love, and know everything about me and everyone else in the world?” Then I realized that he’s God and has no limitations like we experience.
This is were I would have quoted the whole of Psalm 139, but I wanted to say more. So turn there, read that, and then come back here.
Then while I was driving in my car, I’m listening to a sermon recorded from a men’s retreat that Chris Seidman was speaking at... and he was talking about how we often seek the praise of other men, but it never satisfies. We’ll only be satisfied by realizing our worth in God’s eyes.
All too often we’re living and making our decisions based on what people think of us, rather than what God thinks of us. Men may work extra hours, buy things outside their means, and stress themselves to the limit. Why? Because they want to keep up appearances. Impress someone, earn the praise of someone, or gain respect from someone. Women may dress in the latest fashions, wear immodest clothing, wake up early in the morning to spend hours in front of a mirror to work on their hair and do their makeup just right, and even sacrifice their sexual purity. Why? Because they want to be beautiful, loved, accepted, etc.
We forget who we are, and we try to define ourselves by the world’s definition of success: beauty, fame, fortune, and power. We will never be fulfilled in pursuing these things though. You may spend your whole life so that the world might tell you that you’re worthy. Even if it’s on a smaller scale: your friends, your family, or your church.
If you realized who you are in God’s eyes... it would change everything. What you held important is no longer important, and how you interact with people changes. All your decisions are no longer based on who you’re trying to be, but who you are.
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” -Eph. 1:4-5
“I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” -2 Cor 6:18
“So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” -Gal. 4:7
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