GOD'S MEASURE IS WHAT YOU ARE, NOT WHAT YOU HAVE!
"The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become." -- Jim Rohn
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory which comes from the Lord, Who is the Spirit." --- 2 Corinthians 3:18
Even for people of faith, life provides great illusions and false economies. We are bombarded daily by images of wealth and power.....and with all the profane lives of the seemingly "rich and famous." The steady diet of judgment based upon how rich one is or how much one has accumulated takes its toll on our culture. The shallow way we learn to look at people turns our values upside down.......things become priority and people become expendable. No wonder our children mimic the behaviors of borderline personality athletes with multi-colored hair, outlandish tatoos, and repeated difficulties with police and league officials......not to mention repititious "drug rehabilitations!"
We seem to have lost the ability to define just what life is really all about. What have we provided to one another and to our young people as a true measure by which they can build their lives? Are we completely adrift in a sea of questions with no answers?
Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. God, in His Word, gives us a completely reliable yardstick with which to judge ourselves. Life is NOT a "have it your way" enterprise. We have been given the instructions in His Word.
When I was in high school, I worked as a stockboy in a TG&Y store in Memphis, Tennessee. This was one of those old-style stores with high shelves, clearly defined areas of the store, and ladies in charge of each section. One of ours was the sewing goods section complete with all sorts of sewing supplies and bolts of cloth. Mrs. Karger was in charge of that section, and she kept it as straight as an Army supply room ready for inspection. In one area, she had a waist high counter with a metal yardstick screwed down on one edge of the top. When women purchased cloth for their sewing, Mrs. Karger would get the bolt down, unfurl it with a flourish, and measure the amount needed......always by that one measure, the metal yardstick. She did not sell the cloth by what she THOUGHT was the right measure, though honestly at the time I thought she had calibrated eyeballs! She always measured carefully before cutting the cloth and figuring the cost.
The Scripture above tells us that God's people are in the process of being transformed. Through daily exposure to God's person through Scripture reading, prayer, the inner work of His Holy Spirit, and living with the wonderful assurance that He is with us, we are being changed into His likeness. His "cut" is always according to His unchanging "yardstick." He musters together all of our life experiences, good and bad, to change us into the very best we can become. We reflect more and more our Heavenly Father in our words and actions.
During this coming week, all of us will have different experiences. Some of us will be blessed and others will be hurt. We will share in the full gamut of life's challenges and emotions. When tempted to despair, don't do so! God is using all these things to make us into what He wants us to become. Today's service and opportunities are dependent upon yesterday's lessons and development.
You see, it is NOT what we gain in bank balances or life's "things" that are the measure of our lives! The "yardstick" for us is what we become! For people of faith, God says that we ARE becoming something valuable and useful to Him! We're becoming reflectors of His glory and images of His personality to a world that desperately needs to "see God." Remember that as you live each day. Let God show Himself to others through YOU! He'll make more of us than we could ever believe or imagine. God bless you as you do that!
"The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become." -- Jim Rohn
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory which comes from the Lord, Who is the Spirit." --- 2 Corinthians 3:18
Even for people of faith, life provides great illusions and false economies. We are bombarded daily by images of wealth and power.....and with all the profane lives of the seemingly "rich and famous." The steady diet of judgment based upon how rich one is or how much one has accumulated takes its toll on our culture. The shallow way we learn to look at people turns our values upside down.......things become priority and people become expendable. No wonder our children mimic the behaviors of borderline personality athletes with multi-colored hair, outlandish tatoos, and repeated difficulties with police and league officials......not to mention repititious "drug rehabilitations!"
We seem to have lost the ability to define just what life is really all about. What have we provided to one another and to our young people as a true measure by which they can build their lives? Are we completely adrift in a sea of questions with no answers?
Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. God, in His Word, gives us a completely reliable yardstick with which to judge ourselves. Life is NOT a "have it your way" enterprise. We have been given the instructions in His Word.
When I was in high school, I worked as a stockboy in a TG&Y store in Memphis, Tennessee. This was one of those old-style stores with high shelves, clearly defined areas of the store, and ladies in charge of each section. One of ours was the sewing goods section complete with all sorts of sewing supplies and bolts of cloth. Mrs. Karger was in charge of that section, and she kept it as straight as an Army supply room ready for inspection. In one area, she had a waist high counter with a metal yardstick screwed down on one edge of the top. When women purchased cloth for their sewing, Mrs. Karger would get the bolt down, unfurl it with a flourish, and measure the amount needed......always by that one measure, the metal yardstick. She did not sell the cloth by what she THOUGHT was the right measure, though honestly at the time I thought she had calibrated eyeballs! She always measured carefully before cutting the cloth and figuring the cost.
The Scripture above tells us that God's people are in the process of being transformed. Through daily exposure to God's person through Scripture reading, prayer, the inner work of His Holy Spirit, and living with the wonderful assurance that He is with us, we are being changed into His likeness. His "cut" is always according to His unchanging "yardstick." He musters together all of our life experiences, good and bad, to change us into the very best we can become. We reflect more and more our Heavenly Father in our words and actions.
During this coming week, all of us will have different experiences. Some of us will be blessed and others will be hurt. We will share in the full gamut of life's challenges and emotions. When tempted to despair, don't do so! God is using all these things to make us into what He wants us to become. Today's service and opportunities are dependent upon yesterday's lessons and development.
You see, it is NOT what we gain in bank balances or life's "things" that are the measure of our lives! The "yardstick" for us is what we become! For people of faith, God says that we ARE becoming something valuable and useful to Him! We're becoming reflectors of His glory and images of His personality to a world that desperately needs to "see God." Remember that as you live each day. Let God show Himself to others through YOU! He'll make more of us than we could ever believe or imagine. God bless you as you do that!
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