God's Masterpiece: Day 3....

Isaiah 45:9-12 "Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker,

to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground.

Does the clay say to the potter,

'What are you making?'

Does your work say, '

He has no hands'?

[10] Woe to him who says to his father,

'What have you begotten?'

or to his mother, '

What have you brought to birth?'

[11] "This is what the Lord says—

the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:

Concerning things to come,

do you question me about my children,

or give me orders about the work of my hands?

[12] It is I who made the earth

and created mankind upon it.

My own hands stretched out the heavens;

I marshalled their starry hosts.

Once again we come to the fact that in us God has poured out his creativity in making us, and fashioned each of us by hand, the way a potter makes jars. But we come at it from a slightly different angle here....

God made each of us for a purpose, and that purpose is unique. We are fashioned to serve him and others for the task HE chose for us. In my life too often I clash with my maker because I forget this fact. I try to live for myself (selfishness) or seek to choose how I will serve him (arrogance). Yet he requires submission and humility from me. As I grow in him, I need to acknowledge his soveriegnty and find the true contentment that comes from finding myself serving him by being at the centre of God's will for my life.

Day 11: Learn Contentment....

This is the last post on Deeper Reflections, at least for the time being. If you want to continue with online devotions then please look at www.deployed.blogspot.com

Exodus 20:17 "You shall not covet your neighbour's house. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour."

I very often get restless. I love my technology and my gadgets (as do lots of men around my age) and every time something new comes out I want one. I read Stuff, I read T3, I read PC Pro. I know what’s going on in the world of technology, and I want to be one of those poor fools that consumer electronic companies call ‘early adopters’, people who are stuck with big, clunky, bugged versions of consumer electronics that one day everyone else will be using having bought it much cheaper….

And it’s worse when I take my eyes off the real goals of my life, of worshipping the Lord with all my heart, soul, strength and mind, because when I do that my soul, which is always striving after something, fills the vacuums with the ‘nothings’ those goals which are meaningless. I consume, because my soul is hungry. I consume because I seek after comfort. I consume because I want to be content.

Yet I will only be content, only cease to covet after stuff, when my soul is being satisfied. And that only happens when I am worshipping God with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, all my strength. It only happens when I find myself at the centre of God’s will for my life.

Martin Luther King found this contentedness of the soul, even though his life was in danger, and he was sometimes far from comfort. Yet in the middle of the storms of his life he found the only place where any of us will find complete contentment – being in the place, the time, and the situation God wants you to be in. The last words he spoke publicly he expressed this sentiment:

“Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. And I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”