Beauty in Unworthy Contents

"Who am I, Oh Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?" 1 Chronicles 17:16


We all are familiar with the saying: 'don't judge a book by its cover.' It cautions us to not make assumptions on people before reading their contents - getting to know them.

If we were a book, what genre would we be?

Some would be a suspensful mystery, others an inspirational book. There may be othes that could fall into a romantic-comedy genre, or perhaps a horror-thriller.
If God's grace depended on our contents, how much more or how much less gracious would He be?

King David, must've looked at the contents of his book over and over to help him understand what God must've seen to place Him in a position that in his own eyes, did not deserve.
Looking at his contents, there was murder, adultery and selfishness. Surely these characteristics could only have gotten the Lord to shut the book in anger and disappointment. Instead, God far from placing the book back in the shelf, kept reading. He in addition picked up a pen and added chapters to David's book to fulfill what God had prepared for him.

In a mere human sight, there was nothing attractive or impressive that David had done. His physique alone, disqualified Him to be a ruler. His actions did not show the integrity people would want in a king. His cover and contents were enough to put him in the back of the bookstore shelves. God's grace however, is what led Him to the very back of that bookstore. In his repentance and humility, David learned to listen and acknowlege God as the author of life.

No, there isn't anything about us that is impressive or attractive to the mere human sight. Most of our contents too would make a reader blush or become outraged. Surely contents that do not deserve an abundance of blessings that the Lord pours out each day, much less the priviledge of being called His own.

Yet God takes our book in His hands and pens new chapters with beautiful contents waiting to be lived out.
We may look at ourselves and see nothing that God can be pleased with or be able to use, but the wonderful truth is that God sees us differently. It was through those merciful eyes that He saw desperate souls in need of a Savior. It is through those eyes that He sees blank pages that need a happy ending.

Many times I've asked King David's question: What do you see in me O Lord, to be this good to me?

His answer: 'Your overwhelming need for constant mercy, forgiveness, and grace.'

PRAYER

Father, it is true. Nothing can even begin to measure your love and compassion. Your concern for us is beyond human understanding and there is nothing I can ever do to repay you. Allow me to forever be in your presence where Your abundant grace unfolds and reminds me that without you, I am nothing.

Amen.

Big and Tiny Messes

“But I have this against you: you have abandoned the love (you had) at first.” Revelation 2:4

I love to purchase cleaning supplies that have just come out on the market. If the product in the commercial seems like it really works, it becomes a must have on my grocery list. For instance, I love cleaning wipes, and not too long ago, found some that have an amazing citrus scent, with an abrasive side that scrubs away tougher messes, plus each wipe has a spritz of Clorox, which won my little housewife heart over. The first few weeks I had these wipes, I used them on everything.  At first it did not matter if the job was tiny, small, medium or really tough, I just loved the smell and the final result it delivered.  It made even my husband happy to walk into the kitchen or restroom and smell a clean-lemony room, not to mention how my countertops and sinks looked.  Then, one day I didn’t use them, as well as the next few days, until my little four year old, decided it would be a good idea to put his already open juice box inside his lunch bag and leave it on the seat of the car while we drove to school one morning. This was a big mess and a big mess called for these tough wipes. By the way, I would like to add, I was not cleaning the car seat with a smile like the mom’s they show on the Bounty commercials, but that’s another story.  I put the wipes back inside my cleaning supply caddy, and are only, “in use,” when I have Big messes.

Do you remember a point in your life, when your relationship with God was exciting and always “IN USE”? Do you remember loving to use His word to clean up tiny, small, medium and tough messes? Do you also remember when you started to use Him and His word only when you had big messes?

Some people say they have hindrances that do not allow them to keep a passionate, “IN USE,” or alive relationship with God. However, I have been thinking that the biggest and maybe only hindrances each one of us have in our lives are, “The Daily routines.” We are focused on waking up no more than 10 minutes past our alarm sounding, avoiding another tardy at school or work, making sure the house is clean, smelling clean, food is ready, laundry folded, homework assisted with and completed, and so on, that we leave God out. The daily routines do not let us pick up God and His word to maintain a clean spiritual life daily, it does not let us use His word to wipe away tiny or small messes anymore.  We only break the daily routine when we are presented with a big mess, then we look into our caddy and pick up one of the dusty bibles that abound around the house. We remember that our knees were not only meant for walking but for kneeling to pray as well, and He, our Glorious, merciful God, produces an amazing result when we do, He cleans up the mess. But He must feel so used.

The key verse is found in Revelations when God is telling the church in Ephesus that yes He is happy with a few things they have done correctly, O but one thing He is so upset about is that they do not seek Him and love Him like when they first found Him. Are you there today friend? The verse continues by God declaring, repent, and do the works you did at first, repent. Come back to that time in your life when you were so excited you had discovered an awesome love that could wipe away any type of mess, from the tiniest to the toughest, a mess growing inside your heart or a mess around you.