You will do well in life! (Week 5, Day 4)

This morning at 6:30,  David, my 5-year-old, was already thinking up a storm. While playfully moving his toy animal along his mug of hot chocolate, he threw me a tough one: "Why did God make dinosaurs that are so big and dangerous?" Trying to squeeze God's creativity, might, sovereignty and  wisdom into a child's vocabulary, I suddenly realized that David knew the answer already. Remembering last night's catechism practice, I asked him, "Why did God make you and all things?" A wide smile spread over David's face as he replied: "For His own glory!" Yes, often the simple answers are the most satisfactory. David's reply not only helped him understand the world around him, it is also having a great impact on my day. Everything I look at, God created for His own glory. We will we be able to receive the blessing we long to hear, namely: "You will do well in life!", only when we realize that our purpose is to bring God glory.

On a recent trip to town, my 8-year-old daughter, Toria, sat beside me, happily drawing a picture. Her silence was interspersed with questions about heaven, the theme of her art work: "Mom, are there castles in heaven? How about dogs? Will we share things?"
That last question caught me off guard. Of course, in heaven, we can share smiles, songs and stories of what God has done, but the kind of sacrificial love, demonstrated through giving to the point of suffering loss, will be impossible in a place where there is no want. Only here on earth can we forgo sleep to take care of a sick child, or food to see someone else filled, or warmth by giving our jacket to provide someone else comfort.

Christ has demonstrated this love to us by leaving the glory of heaven to live a life of poverty and suffering. He demonstrated it even more by giving His life to save ours. We could not understand even a glimpse of this kind of love if we had we been born in a perfect world. Only here do we have the privilege of following in His steps, giving sacrificially as an act of worship to Him.

·       What is your calling according to Romans 12:1?

                                                                                                                  

·       Over the coming week, write how you put this into practice.

                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                   

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