It's Not About Me - Max Lucado [18]
Isn’t that what we have done? We have camped at the foot of Mount Sinai and beheld the glory of God.Wisdom unsearchable. Purity unspotted. Years unending. Strength undaunted. Love immeasurable. Glimpses of the glory of God.
As we behold his glory, dare we pray that we, like Moses, will reflect it? Dare we hope to be mirrors in the hands of God, the reflection of the light of God? This is the call.
BEHOLDING
LEADS TO BECOMING.
BECOMING LEADS
TO REFLECTING.
“Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV).
Whatever? Whatever.
Let your message reflect his glory. “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 NIV).
Let your salvation reflect God’s glory. “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV).
Let your body reflect God’s glory.“You are not your own. ... Glorify God in your body”(1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Your struggles. “These sufferings of ours are for your benefit. And the more of you who are won to Christ, the more there are to thank him for his great kindness, and the more the Lord is glorified” (2 Corinthians 4:15 TLB; see also John 11:4).
Your success honors God. “Honor the LORD with your wealth” (Proverbs 3:9 NIV). “Riches and honor come from you” (1 Chronicles 29:12 NCV). “God ... is giving you power to make wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18).
Your message, your salvation, your body, your struggles, your success—all proclaim God’s glory.
“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father” (Colossians 3:17).
HE SENDS THE MESSAGE;
WE MIRROR IT.
He’s the source; we are the glass. He’s the light; we are the mirrors. He sends the message; we mirror it.We rest in his pack awaiting his call.And when placed in his hands, we do his work. It’s not about us; it’s all about him.
Mr.Tweed’s use of a mirror led to a rescue.
May God’s use of us lead to millions more.
CHAPTER NINE
MY MESSAGE IS ABOUT HIM
9
Behind him, a trail of tracks.
Beneath him, a pounding stallion.
Before him, miles of trail to cover.
Within him, a flint-rock resolve.
Squinty eyed. Firm jawed. Rawboned. Pony Express riders had one assignment—deliver the message safely and quickly. They seized every advantage: the shortest route, the fastest horse, the lightest saddle. Even the lightest lunchbox.
Only the sturdy were hired. Could they handle the horses? The heat? Could they outrun robbers and outlast blizzards? The young and the orphans were preferred. Those selected were given $125 a month (a good salary in 1860), a Colt revolver, a lightweight rifle, a bright red shirt, blue trousers, and eight hours to cover eighty miles, six days a week.
Hard work and high pay. But the message was worth it.1 The apostle Paul would have loved the Pony Express. For he, like the riders, had been entrusted with a message.
“I have a duty to all people,” Paul told the Roman church (Romans 1:14 NCV). He had something for them—a message. He’d been entrusted as a Pony Express courier with a divine message, the gospel. Nothing mattered more to Paul than the gospel. “I am not ashamed of the gospel,” he wrote next, “because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16 NIV).
Paul existed to deliver the message. How people remembered him was secondary. (Else why would he introduce himself as a slave? Romans 1:1). How people remembered Christ was primary. Paul’s message was not about himself. His message was all about Christ.
How difficult for us to maintain this focus. Don’t we tend to tinker with the message? Aren’t we prone to insert lines of self-service?
A young guide in the art museum