Some people hang their sense of worth on the people they know. They talk about meeting this entertainer, or that public figure, or mention that they talked to the mayor this week or the head of some well-known organization. They seem to assume that others will be impressed and will think more highly of them than if they didn’t have such prominent ‘friends.’
At times like that, I’m tempted to say, “Oh, and I talk with the King of Kings every day, even frequently,” but that would be playing the same game. Besides, having an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ does not make be a somebody. Instead it verifies that I am nothing.
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 says, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.”
That I am one of “the called” gives me no room for arrogance. The Bible is correct when it says that I am foolish, weak, base, despised, and nothing—at least according to human measurements. No one is going to increase their self-worth by dropping my name to anyone.
Yet I am so privileged. This passage goes on to say, “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.’”
God, in His wisdom, gave me Jesus, who is my wisdom, my righteousness, my sanctification, and my redemption. Through Him, I have everything that is important.
Hebrews 2:11 humbles me even farther. It says, “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”
Jesus picked me to be His child, a nobody without any merit whatsoever, sets me apart for His purposes and gives me all I need. Then as if all that were not enough, He also made me part of His family!
The Bible says I’ve been adopted. I’m not only able to talk with the King of Kings, but can also call Him my brother, and He is not ashamed of me! I am a child and a sister to the Creator of the universe.
I could put that on my resume, yell it from a podium, use it to get in to feasts and gatherings of the elite, but no, I’m not doing it. This is a cause for humility and rejoicing, not exploitation. Besides, most of the world would write me off as a nut case, a simple person who isn’t worth the bother—which is true, and one of my qualifications for being called in the first place.
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