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When I was in college, I thought I knew everybody I went to school with. If a friend asked me if I knew someone, I’d ask them, “what do they do?” or “what sorority are they in?” or “what sport do they play?” We always seemed to describe people by what they did, not necessarily by who they were.
I still find that true today. If someone asked you to describe yourself, you’d most likely tell them about your physical attributes or about your profession. It becomes easy for us to hide behind a title. Mother, lawyer, coach, pastor, brother, director…these are all roles we fill. Who we are is an entirely different story. WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD.
“to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”
– John 1:12-13
By believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal savior, we are automatically adopted into the kingdom of heaven. The only thing we need to DO for God is to love Him and love each other. When Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say I am?” (Mark 8:27), he got several answers. When he asked Peter, the response was “You are Christ”. Jesus then warned them not to tell anyone about Him. Are you relying upon other people to tell the world who you are, or are you living your life in a way that boldly says that you are a child of God?
Jesus Christ laid his life down on a cross for us and the least we can do is die to ourselves daily and offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him. My life is not my own, I was bought at a price. I want to honor God with my body physically – treating it as the temple that it is. I cannot serve Him properly when I am sick! Therefore, I will sacrifice earthly desires for heavenly treasures.
Ask God to give you strength to overcome your weaknesses, whether it be concerning what you eat, how you view your body, or your self control. Instead, focus on His sustenance and how that will nourish you. Ask for guidance in how you present yourself to others; may people know that we are Christians without ever having to speak a word.
Verses to cling to:
I Cor 6:19b-20
You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Romans 12:1
…offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.
God-Shaped Hole
Have you ever thought about earrings. For me, they were a much coveted reward that was unattainable until I reached the age of 13. Then, for some reason, my mother agreed it would be cool if I got two piercings in my left ear and one in my right (remember, we’re going back to the age of parachute pants and jelly bracelets people).
Fast forward nineteen years later. Most people I know now are not aware of my “wild child” status since my second hole in my left ear has long since closed up. See, somewhere between college and “oh my, what am I going to do with the rest of my life” I decided the double piercing in a single ear might not be what every company desired in their ideal candidate (not that I jumped into the corporate world all that soon after graduation, unless you consider dancing the “Crazy Signs” while working for Club Med in the islands ‘climbing the corporate ladder’. Luckily for me, the gradual lack of use caused the hole to close up and my ear to return to normal.
Now, unless you’ve been living under a rock, or somewhere in Mayberry, you’ve surely seen the tribal inspired plugs that some of today’s youth are wearing. From the little I know, these ‘earrings’ start out small, but by gradually increasing the size, the hole gradually stretches and grows, resulting in HUGE holes in the ears. Unfortunately, kids that walk the same road as me and decide a few years down the road that look isn’t working for them have a harder time reversing their predicament. Though the growing process was a gradual one, the end result prevents reversal in the same gradual process.
Aren’t our lives like that as well? We may over-eat little by little until we wonder why our clothes don’t fit anymore. Or we dabble in questionable relationships until we find ourselves in a predicament we promised we would never get into. Or our quiet time with God dwindles to the point where it is non-existent, creating a hole so big it seems nothing could ever fill it.
The good news is that no medical procedure could ever fix such a hole in our life; the only answer to close that gap is GOD. We rationalize that if we gradually got ourselves into trouble, we can gradually get out of it, when in fact we need to surrender ourselves to God for radical life redevelopment!
Don’t be fooled into thinking you can fill a God shaped hole on your own; before you know it, you’ll be looking through a hoop instead of a peep-hole. Expose yourself to God alone and He will not only heal your wounds, but they will be erased in the new creation that will be you!
The Working Word 