SET APART FOR A SPECIAL WORK

“The child is the father of the man,” wrote William Wordsworth. Want direction for the future? Then read your life backward.

Job placement experts asked over seventy thousand people this question: “What things have you done in life that you enjoyed doing and believe you did well?” In every case people reverted to the same pattern of functioning. Or to put it succinctly, our past presents our future.

The Bible says, “It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives helping others” (Ephesians 2:10 TLB). You are heaven’s custom design. What God said about Jeremiah, he said about you. “Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work” (Jeremiah 1:5 NCV).

Devotion by Max Lucado | The Almighty Jehovah | https://thealmightyJehovah.com

Untying Knots

Most of us had a hard time learning to tie our shoes. Tightening shoes by wrapping strings together? Nothing easy about that. Who came up with the idea of shoes anyway?

My friend Roy used to sit on a park bench watching kids gather and play at the bus stop. One day a little fellow struggled to board the bus, frantically trying to disentangle a knotted shoestring. He grew more anxious by the moment. All of a sudden it was too late. The bus door closed. With tear-filled eyes he looked at Roy on the bench and asked, “Do you untie knots?”

We never outgrow the urge to look up and say, “Help!” And when we do, who shows up? Jesus, our next-door Savior. Go ahead, ask him: “Do you untie knots?” “Yes,” he will say.

As We Behold Him

2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness…” As we behold him, we become like him.

It’s a principle I experienced first-hand when an opera singer visited our church. He sat right behind me. He tried to contain himself, but how can a tuba hide in a room of piccolos? I was startled. Inspired. Emboldened by his volume. I lifted mine. Did I sing better? No. But did I try harder? No doubt. His power brought the best of me.

Could your world use a little music? If so, invite heaven’s baritone—Jesus Christ—to cut loose. Who knows? A few songs with him might change the way you sing!

SET APART FOR A SPECIAL WORK