A Self Made Man?
We have some very unusual and colloquial phrases in our language. For example, much of my life, I was being referred to as “self made man”, it never really registered with me. I was busy “making” something of my life, or so I thought. So for that period, I took that introduction as a casual compliment and never thought much more about it. Now as I reflect, I can see that for what it really was, a wake up call that I was ignoring. You see, “a self made man,” completely rejects God, in fact the very concept of any participation by God is refuted. I doubt those who made such statements realized that they were just being used as more tools in God’s “chest”, sent to deliver another wake up call, but the impact is not lessened by such realizations. If we were like the creatures that sit around the throne of God, with eyes all around them, we would have learned how to effectively use “hindsight” much earlier in our lives. Now, such hindsight yields as much regret as illumination. It’s simple really, what’s been made by man has a very limited “life” expectancy, is doomed to many failures and serves little or no purpose in God’s world. Only what’s made by God matters and lasts. I have no desire to take credit for God’s work in me or through me. Moses learned this hard way by taking credit for God’s work, Numbers 20:12, “But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them”.
I’m a bit more knowledgable about the Lord’s ways now, so ignorance isn’t even a remotely plausible excuse. Whatever good may come out of me is God’s work, whatever is flawed, faulty, sinful or of inferior quality is the work of my hands and mind. I am made by God, we all are. After that making, He allows free will to lead us, but I don ‘t believe there is any time when he is not watching and listening, knocking and waiting for us to answer and invite Him back into our lives. If you’re hell bent on maintaining your “self made” status, man or woman, you may end up like Moses and Aaron, precluded from, in our case, the metaphoric promised land of God ‘s Kingdom. In this way we are like God. Appreciation is welcomed. When we are righteous, selfless and serving others, we appreciate knowing that God, more than man, recognizes our effort while recording our acts. God made, is made to last!
JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE (Please share your comments with us)
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