Who Are You Part 2

Vol 2 No 30 THEO'S DEVOS 073108

Psalm 8:5-9 For you made us only a little lower than God,
and you crowned us with glory and honor.
6 You put us in charge of everything you made,
giving us authority over all things—
7 the sheep and the cattle
and all the wild animals,
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that swims the ocean currents.
9 O LORD, our LORD, the majesty of your name fills the earth!


In last week's Devo we noted that God treats us with deep respect. He sent His Son Jesus to die for us and He has chosen us to spread the Word of His love and Gospel to this lost world. Today we note that there is a position for us in His creation. “... you made us only a little lower than God, and you crowned us with glory and honor...” Read those words slowly. We are not simply a part of the general creation. God has crowned us. We are children of God. We have already noted a while ago that we are a 'royal priesthood.'

Why then do so many people talk about themselves as virtually useless. The fact that we are unworthy of God's love does not make us worthless. We have something to contribute. If we do not do what God has chosen us to do, it will not get done. And if God considers us as crowned with glory and honor, shouldn't we think of each other in that way. Oftentimes we focus on our weaknesses and God know we have many of them. Or we observe our sin or incompetence and then act as though that is all we are. But we, that is you and I, are much more than that. Much more. I hear Christians all the time talk as though the things we do mean little. It would appear that God thinks differently of us.

In these verses we also see that there is something more involved in our creation. We were 'put in charge of everything.' This gives us great responsibility. These day there is a great debate about this thing called 'global warming.' Are we responsible for this phenomena or not. Is there anything we can do about it? I do not know the answers to these questions. Sometimes I think that the whole thing is an attempt of many in government to control us and make us dependent on the government. However, we cannot simply wink at this kind of thing.

I have a little pet dog. His name is Sam and he is a King Charles Spaniel mix. He's a little guy, about 20 pounds, and he is totally dependent on me for his entire life. Everything he has or can do is dependent on me. In a way the rest of the world is in that condition. We humans determine where animals can live. We move them all the time. We take their land at our pleasure. If a species goes extinct we note it. Now it is true that lately, in the last several hundred years we have become concerned and no longer allow certain animals to be killed just for the sport of it. W e are careful about forests, and wet lands. It is a shame that we, as human beings, haven't been concerned about these things since the day after our verses were penned. We do know that concern for the environment is not our idea. It springs from the heart of the One who created it. It makes sense that the Person who created all that is would expect us to care for it.

So who are you? You are a living being that God loves. Someone who has great potential and whose actions have meaning. You are responsible for the bears and lions. You should be concerned about the rivers and birds and bees and especially other people. We do not live just for ourselves. We are in charge of God's creation, created above it but responsible for it. Start with where you live. Care for that environment and then branch out to the streets around where you live and try to improve those as well. Then, as best we can let's be sure that the debate about things like global warming have a clear and full hearing. Take the politics out of it and let the scientists come to some honest conclusions about what can be done. Then let's do all we can to follow the command of God that we exercise our authority over it. At the very least stop thinking of yourself as a nobody and allow yourself the respect that God intends for you to have. Then, and only then, will you be able to pass that respect on to those around you. It will change your life and theirs in a very significant way.

May God bless you today in all that you do.


Theo