Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things–and the things that are not–to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. (1 Cor 1:26-29 NIV)
The more I think about it, the more I realize that at best, what we present to the Lord in our service, ministry, biblical knowledge, and theological prowess is no better than the art work of a four-year-old which is presented to his/her father—and it just so happens that the father is the most world renowned artist of all time! The Father receives the art from each of His children and appreciates it, not because of the quality, but because of the loving spirit in which it is given.
None of us can impress the Father with our artwork, so none of us have any reason for pride or confidence in it. And none of us is qualified to serve as an art critic of the work produced by other four year olds.
But the Master Artist—the One who effortlessly painted all of creation on a canvas of non-existence—lovingly takes our humble efforts and combines them all together into a grand, celestial mosaic that will one day utterly astonish angels and demons alike. (Eph. 3:10)
Well said, especially the last paragraph. I think someone alluded to this before, but you really do have a gift for putting into words what many people might want to say, but could never articulate the way you do.
I agree with Ashley, we need more posts!
PS- I’m still having to look up words on dictionary.com whenever I read your blogs though. You are so smart– “prowess.” I hadn’t even heard that word before.