I was looking for my old military picture to be put on the bulletin board at church. They were wanting all of the men and women who have served in the military to bring their pictures and post them were all the people could see. In the move from Portsmouth to Jefferson Ohio we had put all of our old pictures in a box. I knew exactly where it was. I pulled the box out and found the envelope that had them in it. As the pictures were dumped onto the table we started to reflect on every picture.
One picture, in particular, brought back a wave of emotions for me. It was one of my baby pictures. After I had gathered myself I looked deep into that picture and asked this question to God, "did you really know I would become a man serving you as a minister of your Word?" I ask that question for this reason, I know all the things I did from the little baby in that picture until the moment I accepted Christ as my personal savior. How could God have known that I would become a servant for Him?
I thought about this over the weekend and felt compelled to share what the Lord revealed to me concerning my question. In Jeremiah 1:5 it reads, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” In Luke 1:15 we read how John the baptist ".... will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth." God was revealing to me that He knew everything about me just as he knows everything about Jeremiah and John the baptist. I may not be a prophet but just like them I am loved by God. So loved that he saw me as a baby who would become the Man of God I am today.
As an infant, we are totally reliant on someone to take care of us; feed, shelter, guide, and direct our path in life. As we grow we are being taught the ways of life. We will come to a point where we are released from our caregivers to spread our wings and reproduce what we have been taught. We go from being an infant to becoming a mature adult.
Just as it is in life, our walk with Jesus can be viewed the same way. After conversion, we are totally reliant on Jesus to take care of us. We continue this relationship by being taught the ways of Christ. Our relationship develops to the point Jesus releases us to go out and share with the world what He has taught us. We go from infancy to maturity.
Thank you Jesus for knowing and loving me as an infant and developing me into the man I am today.
Recently, I was given a handful of pictures from my childhood, and was able to look at those pictures and try to put my self in that place at that time. Thinking abut who I was in that picture and who I am today is such a life altering difference....Not only am I more mature in age, growth and understanding as a human being, I have gone from infancy to maturity in Christ in that same manner.....learning things the "hard way", struggling with my decisions, and having to answer for my own life...in the same process I learned who I am in Christ....and more importantly I have learned who Christ in me is! Christ living in me gives me freedom, forgiveness, wisdom, and LIFE!
ReplyDeleteJesus does take care of our spirits from infancy to maturity (and continued maturity) as a parent would care for their infant...n such ways that are unique and only found in that CLOSE relationship!
Thanks for sharing, Pastor!! :)