Easter is such a wonderful time of year for believers! It’s a time to reflect on what God has done for us through His son Jesus! I cannot begin to fathom the great love God has for us to send Jesus, who willingly laid down His life for us! Jesus’ resurrection is our hope! It is the fulfillment of His promise! He is risen indeed! This is also a time for us to reflect on our inner- being; a time to see ourselves through the Lord’s eyes and see how He sees us! To think that the God of the universe knows every single thing about me, my every thought, attitude and action, and still loves me anyway, is too great of a love for me to even understand! Without Him, I am nothing. Without Him I am spiritually bankrupt. He loves us and calls us before we ever even think of following Him! Who am I that He would care about me, or know my name, much less call me to follow Him? This is so humbling, but so grand!
I’m so thankful that God doesn’t call us or choose us based on the things that the world looks at. He doesn’t love us, or call us based on our abilities, our accomplishments, our looks, social status, bank account or resume! That is not how God operates. God sees the heart. 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 says, “ For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God- and righteousness and sanctification and redemption - that as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.‘” Did you get that? We did nothing to earn God’s love or His salvation, calling, or spiritual growth! Skills or wisdom do not get a person into the kingdom of God! Faith in Christ does... and He even gives us the faith we need for that! It’s nothing we’ve done! It’s all about the work Jesus has done for us. It’s all about accepting that He has accomplished it all for us! When we humbly grasp that, we can’t help but give Him our lives and follow Him! All He wants is my humility and my availability; He calls, I follow. He equips me for every step of this journey!
When God told Samuel to go annoint a new King, He sent him to a guy named Jesse who had many sons. God told Samuel that He would tell him which one of those sons to annoint as the new king. in 1 Samuel 16:7 it says, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused Him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” David was just a boy. But God saw a king! God sees the heart. God sees us as who we are in Him!
Think of Jesus’ disciples. According to the world’s standards they were pretty much the least qualified. They were mostly unlearned fishermen of low social status, and one of them a hated tax collector! If Jesus wanted to choose the most qualified at that time, according to worldly standards, He would’ve chosen the most learned of the “super religious “ Pharisees who followed every single rule and law... but Jesus knew their hearts. Jesus chose the unlikely to follow Him and they went on to turn the world upside down for the kingdom of God!
In this world we get hung up on abilities, skills, personality and status. In God‘s eyes He is looking at us in a different way. 2 Timothy 2:20-21 says, “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” We are not called to be utensils so much.. we get so hung up on what we can DO. We are called to be vessels. Vessels to hold something .. His Spirit! Simply a vessel! Useful for the Master to fill and flow through to this world. That’s it! It’s not based on anything we have done or can do! Jesus has done it all! Oh how I want to see others in this same way! Ask God for eyes to see others the way He does! God‘s love isn’t based on appearance, education, race, gender or status. As God has given me His wonderful grace, may I show grace to others. I’m so thankful God sees the heart and gives me the grace to even follow Him at all!
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