Enjoy Life, Enjoy God

HUMILITY

October 2, 2009

We are a people taught to be self-sufficient, to fix our problems, to "get 'er done." We are so self-sufficient that we risk losing a healthy perspective on our God.

Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?
Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Romans 11:34-36 TNIV

By the end of the 11th chapter of Romans, Paul lays out for us a glimpse of God's plan for all people. Sin, forgiveness, sovereignty, calling, grace, judgment, mercy. It's all there. Which prompts Paul to go to praise. Paul realizes how he is so puny. It leads Paul to a humility reminder. "Who am I to stand in judgment of God?" And so he sings.

Autonomous, self-sufficient people are not given to humility. We put God on trial. We shape God according to our likes and dislikes. Yet Paul invites us to a different path. When we really start thinking of who God is, it leads us to humility. Not to "Is God acceptable to me?" but to "How can I be acceptable to God?" Thanks be to God, the name is Jesus Christ.

Joyfully,
Dale Patterson