Thursday, May 29, 2008

Masterpiece

"For we are His workmanship (masterpiece NLT), created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10 NKJ

Have you ever spent an hour or two thinking about what it means to be God's workmanship or masterpiece? Numerous passages tell us that we are given various gifts and abilities. But as I have asked Christians over many years what they think God has prepared them to do, most do not know and seem to be embarrassed to talk about it. Please consider the thoughts of Max Lucado from his book, Cure for the Common Life;


"Da Vinci painted one Mona Lisa, Beethoven created one Fifth Symphony,
and God made one version of you. You’re it! You’re the only you
there is. And if we don’t get you, we don’t get you. You’re the only shot
we have at you. You can do something no one else can do in a fashion
no one else can do it. You are more than a coincidence of chromosomes
and heredity, more than just an assemblage of somebody else’s
lineage. You are uniquely made. . . .
But can you be anything you want to be? If you are uniquely
made — now stop and think about this — if you’re uniquely made, can
you really be anything you want to be? If you don’t have the sense that
takes care of numbers, can you be an accountant? If you don’t have a
love for the dirt, can you be a farmer? If you don’t have an appreciation
and a devotion to kids, can you really be a teacher? Well, you
can be an unhappy one, an unsatisfied one. You can be one of the 87
percent of the workforce that doesn’t like their work — one of the 80
percent of the people that says “I don’t use my talents on a daily basis.”
You can be a statistic.
Lucado ends his comments with these powerful words: “Can you be
anything you want to be? I don’t think so. But can you be everything God
wants you to be? I do think so. And you do become that by discovering
your uniqueness.”

Jesus said "I have finished the work which You have given me to do."
How could he know He was finished unless He knew what His purpose was?
Sure Jesus is distinct, but Paul, Job and many others speak of having done what God intended for them to do. There is a special role(s) that only you can fill. The great news is that you and I do not need great skill to be God's masterpiece, we only need to be moldable clay.

What do you think about the idea that you are unique and nobody else can be what you have the potential to be?

4 comments:

Ashley @ pure and lovely said...

I don't want to believe it. as in, its hard for me to believe. that I actually matter and am, in fact, unique. its heartwarming to think that our creator cares enough about us to create us each and everyone unique...because he loves us. Its also intimidating, because I need to be who I am called to be.

J.R. said...

How do you find out what is your unique gift or ability? More directly, how do you pinpoint it and say this is my "calling"?

Roxy Wishum said...

Thanks for reading and commenting, J.R. I am glad you asked. As I have spent some time now pondering what direction I should take when I transition from a civil service to a real job, the need for seeing ourselves from an outside, objective perspective as a tool for making decisions about career, etc. the field of "life coach" or "career counselor" seems like a good fit. Education and experience have led in that direction and more and more I believe that what we often call coincidence is actually God speaking to us through others and through circumstances. Wouldn't it be great to be able to help people answer these questions for themselves?

Lerra said...

Part of me wants to know what God calls me to be, so I will know my purpose in life. But part of me has the same sentiment as Ashley - the fear that can come with responsibility.