09/05/2022
We tend to think that just because we can identify the process by which we are conceived, and born, that we are the makers of our children, but this is far from the truth. What pregnant woman ever says that today she shall form the baby’s lungs, or it’s tongue, within her body? What father decides to give his future son his eyes, or his daughter her sweet disposition? When, in the few minutes of sexual pleasure in which his essence is transferred, did he consciously decide this? We are simply the donors of parts, and the eggshells, but we like to take credit for God’s handiwork that occurs within it. Why then do we claim ownership, and not give the Lord the full credit and glory for the miracle that has formed us? Don’t we see the maker’s mark in all things?
“The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”
Job 33:4 ESV
When I was younger I used to like tinkering with cars, and when they broke down I liked to determine what had gone wrong, buy new parts, and make them run smoothly once more, but I hadn’t designed them, nor had I made the parts. It is the same with my wife, who likes to cook. She selects a recipe, shops for the ingredients, and puts them all together with great skill, but she has never made the spices, created a grain of wheat, or a stalk of sugar cane, much less ground the flour, or refined the sugar. But, I called the cars mine, and talk about how well I have repaired them, and Ann calls the dishes she prepares hers, and takes great pleasure in how much others enjoy her cooking. We do the same in every aspect of God’s creation. We take a lump of clay, mold it into a bowl, and call it ours, and we watch an apple fall from a tree, and name this law of gravity Newton’s. You, me, and every person ever made, or born, has been created by the same hands; God’s. Job knew this, and we should know it too…
“Behold, I am toward God as you are; I too was pinched off from a piece of clay.”
Job 33:6 ESV
When we have overcome our pride, and given our Heavenly Father the credit for His creation, then we will have come to understand the humility we should exhibit, and the humble nature that scripture refers to. Have each of us come to that realization yet, or are we still being deceived by the world into believing that it, and us, can exist without God?
“Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
Isaiah 66:1-2 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for creating us, and all things. Thank you for opening our eyes to the work of your hands, and showing us that, like Jesus spoke to us, we can do nothing of ourselves, and that all things come from you. Help us to dismiss our pride, and replace it with a humble nature, for these are the souls you look for… the humble, and contrite. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who authors all of creation, not just in the beginning, but each, and every day. Praised be your name for all the characteristics we have, our eyes, our feet, our spirit, and even those things we count as misshapen, or deformed, because all of these things are made according to your purpose, working together for good, and to accomplish your will. Merciful are you who is with us in our most glorious moments, and in our darkest hours of pain and suffering, for in them all of our spirits, and our faiths, are made complete. Your grace covers us, the blood of Christ cleanses us, and you are with us always. You never abandon your creation, or allow the world to create a single hair, or the tiniest of cells. We are forever your creation, and in this knowledge we are transformed into the likeness of Jesus, so that on the day of judgement we will stand humbly before you in contrition, and receive the gift of eternity in your presence, and within your hand.
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
Psalm 139:13-16 ESV
Rich Forbes