Doing Our Best For God - What It Really Means To Be a Child of God
First, that all and everyone who believes, being members of
Christ, are in common partakers of Him and of all his riches and gifts;
secondly, that everyone must know it to be his duty readily and
cheerfully to employ his gifts for the advantage and salvation of other
members.
Have you ever wondered if you are doing your best to bring glory to God? Have you ever chastised yourself over not being of much use as a Christian or of not being as gifted as your church leaders and fellow believers? I am sure there are times in our lives when we have been assailed by feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness as Christians.
But, what does it take to be a true child of God? Before we dwell on what God looks for in His children, I would like to narrate the story of a well-known German artist named Herkomer. He was a very gifted artist and due to his growing reputation, he moved to London with his aged father, who was a simple woodcutter in Germany. After arriving in London, Herkomer's father, who enjoyed creating things out of clay, learned to make beautiful vases and bowls and was very proud of them.
Soon, both father and son established a good business as artisans. Several years passed and Herkomer's father began to lose his abilities to create things as his eyesight failed him and he was growing old. Every night, he used to go to bed unhappy with his work, sad that his work had become inferior. But, Herkomer, sensing his father's dejected feelings, stayed up late in the night after his father had gone to sleep and corrected the flaws and defects in his father's work. And when the old man would come down in the mornings, he would hold up the pieces in the morning light, smile, and say, "I can still do it as well as I ever did." That is what our Father in Heaven does with us! We are all frail and we have several flaws...we worry that our best will never be good enough. But, God places His omnipotent hand on us, shapes us and uses us in ways greater than we could ever imagine.
Even though God works His will in our lives and uses the weakest of us to achieve His grandest plans, it is important for us to realize that He expects us to yield to Him, just like the clay we saw in the above story. Someone once said, "The Lord would rather have one person who is 100 percent committed to him than one hundred people who are only 75 percent committed!" There was a man who wanted to sell his house for $2000 and there was another man who was desperate in need of a house. However, he could not afford the price. After a lot of bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the price, but with one condition i.e., he will retain ownership of a nail protruding over the main door. The buyer agreed and the sale was made.
Several years later, the previous owner came back and wanted to buy the house. When the new owner refused to sell, the other man took a dead dog and hung it on the nail over the door! Soon the house became uninhabitable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail. The point is, God expects total commitment from His children. If we leave the devil with even one small nail in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ's habitation and making us poor tools for the extension of His Kingdom.
Have you ever wondered if you are doing your best to bring glory to God? Have you ever chastised yourself over not being of much use as a Christian or of not being as gifted as your church leaders and fellow believers? I am sure there are times in our lives when we have been assailed by feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness as Christians.
But, what does it take to be a true child of God? Before we dwell on what God looks for in His children, I would like to narrate the story of a well-known German artist named Herkomer. He was a very gifted artist and due to his growing reputation, he moved to London with his aged father, who was a simple woodcutter in Germany. After arriving in London, Herkomer's father, who enjoyed creating things out of clay, learned to make beautiful vases and bowls and was very proud of them.
Soon, both father and son established a good business as artisans. Several years passed and Herkomer's father began to lose his abilities to create things as his eyesight failed him and he was growing old. Every night, he used to go to bed unhappy with his work, sad that his work had become inferior. But, Herkomer, sensing his father's dejected feelings, stayed up late in the night after his father had gone to sleep and corrected the flaws and defects in his father's work. And when the old man would come down in the mornings, he would hold up the pieces in the morning light, smile, and say, "I can still do it as well as I ever did." That is what our Father in Heaven does with us! We are all frail and we have several flaws...we worry that our best will never be good enough. But, God places His omnipotent hand on us, shapes us and uses us in ways greater than we could ever imagine.
Even though God works His will in our lives and uses the weakest of us to achieve His grandest plans, it is important for us to realize that He expects us to yield to Him, just like the clay we saw in the above story. Someone once said, "The Lord would rather have one person who is 100 percent committed to him than one hundred people who are only 75 percent committed!" There was a man who wanted to sell his house for $2000 and there was another man who was desperate in need of a house. However, he could not afford the price. After a lot of bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the price, but with one condition i.e., he will retain ownership of a nail protruding over the main door. The buyer agreed and the sale was made.
Several years later, the previous owner came back and wanted to buy the house. When the new owner refused to sell, the other man took a dead dog and hung it on the nail over the door! Soon the house became uninhabitable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail. The point is, God expects total commitment from His children. If we leave the devil with even one small nail in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ's habitation and making us poor tools for the extension of His Kingdom.
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