It has always fascinated me that some people don’t
like celebrating their birthday’s as they get older. I’ve
always enjoyed celebrating anything, and a birthday whether
it’s mine or someone else’s is truly a cause to rejoice.
Before I continue this thought of celebrating a
birthday, I must insert a caveat here. In Charles Dicken’ s
“A Christmas Carol” it begins with pointing out emphatically
that “Marley is dead”. It is also pointed out that nothing
wonderful can come of the tale if this is not fully
understood.
Along this line of thought, that “nothing wonderful
can come of this tale” it must be understood where my
thinking lies in relation to birthdays.
I personally believe Humility is an understanding of
our relationship with God. The fact that He has done
everything for us. When we fully understand this concept we
find that we walk with Jesus on a path where two very
dangerous traps await if we don’t keep our eyes firmly on
our Lord and our hands in His.
I believe the first trap is pride, in thinking
anything good can come out of our lives without God. I
believe the second trap is “false humility”, or downplaying
what God has done for us.
I could be wrong about this. As I go through life I
find I’m wrong about a lot of things. I’ve also learned
that when dealing with God, it is not always the way it
seems.
With that short thought in place, let us continue:
From the beginning of the Bible we are told God
created us. This is emphasized throughout the Scriptures:
~ Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image,
in the image of God He created him;
male and female He created them.
~ Psalms 119:73 Your hands made me and formed me;
give me understanding to learn your commands.
~ Job 10:8 “Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you
now turn and destroy me?
~ Isaiah 44:2 This is what the LORD says--
he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who
will help you: Do not be afraid, 0 Jacob, my servant,
Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
~ Isaiah 44:24 “This is what the LORD says -- your
Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD,
who has made all things, who alone stretched out the
heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,
~ Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew
you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed
you as a prophet to the nations.” NIV
~ James 3:9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and
Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made
in God’s likeness. NIV
~ Psalms 139:13-14 For you created my inmost being; you
knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you
because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your
works are wonderful, I know that full well.
When we begin to study God’s Word and think about what
is written we start to see a pattern from the beginning of
the Bible to the end. We begin to see that God is very
interested in mankind. We start to comprehend that the
creator of everything, created us, and created us in His
image. This should strike a person like a thunderbolt when
they realize what this means.
We have been created in God’s likeness. God places
such an emphasis on this fact that in James 3:9 the author
points out that since man has been made like God, to curse
man is like cursing God.
Not only have we been created by God, we were created
for God:
~ Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created:
things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;
all things were created by him and for him. NIV
~ Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and to him
are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
If you notice and think this through looking at the
previous verses it includes all of us. There are no
exceptions. Again this should be an amazing thought - WE
WERE CREATED FOR GOD!
The Bible doesn’t leave us hanging there. Not only are
we created by God and for God, He has work for us to do!
~ 1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you
are God’s field, God’s building.
~ Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared
in advance for us to do.
This is truly amazing to me. We are created to do good
works! And God who knows all things, is all powerful, and
everywhere, prepared them. This is definitely an
improvement over the supervisors I’ve worked under in my
life. And I know it will be a superbly vast improvement
over the tasks I’ve delegated to workers under me.
By now you’re thinking this is pretty awesome what God
has done for us. But it gets even better. Not only were we
created by God, and for God, and have a job to do for God.
He loves us so much, that His Son Jesus, died on the cross
for us, so we can have eternal life.
~John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his
one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall
not perish but have eternal life. NIV
~ John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he
lay down his life for his friends. NIV
~ Titus 3:5 He saved us through the washing of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured
out on us generously through Jesus Christ our
Savior, He saved us through the washing of
rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, NIV
When a person seriously thinks about what the Bible
says about God arid His relationship with mankind, how can
we take for granted our lives? Should we assume a posture
of false humility and downgrade the fantastic work God has
done from start to finish? No way. I pray that when a
person wakes on their birthday, that their thoughts turn to
God and they give thanks for everything He has done in
their life, everything He is doing, and everything He is
going to do.
Our birthdays are a time to celebrate and rejoice. We
can give thanks because God the Father, God the Son, God
the Holy Spirit have been involved in our lives from before
we were born. We can give thanks for the high value they
place on our eternal soul. We can give thanks for the
terrible torture and death Jesus endured for each of us. We
can simply rejoice in the fact of our birth.
This year I pray that you will take a new look at your
life, your birth, the special relationship you have with
God, and simply say “Happy Birthday to Me!!” Then as David
did, realize that God’s Love endures forever!
Psalms 138:8 The LORD will fulfill [his purpose] for
me; your love, 0 LORD, endures forever--do not abandon the
works of your hands.
