Devotional 3-9-12

Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God.

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

The other day I was cleaning out a box that contained items that belonged to my mother and father. I found both my mother’s and father’s baby shoes that had been bronzed to preserve them forever. I am the oldest living person in my family, so I can’t go back to anyone from my parent’s generation to ask why the family felt the need to bronze those baby shoes.

However, as I began to really think about the shoes, I realized that maybe my mother and father’s parents thought it was important to remember their baby’s first steps in their first pair of hard soled shoes. Those beginning steps in those shoes, with their parent’s guidance, would lead them on to many adventures and experiences as they grew up, married, became parents and then grandparents. Those first steps would lead to so many important mile stones in their lives.

As we continue through this time of Lent – this time of examining our lives and searching out what is really important in our relationship with God and God’s children - we really need to focus on God’s wisdom and guidance for us. Each step we take is so important, for it’s not about what the world and our society deems important – power, wealth, position, the latest trends. Rather, God is calling each of us to become the best that we can become, with the talents and abilities God has given us, and to allow God to guide us and use us in the places God knows we should be. We can only be successful in this life, if we truly allow God to be our wisdom and our guide.

God has given each of us the raw materials to develop and step out in life. However, it is a lifelong process, taken one step at a time. What are you doing with your gifts from God, to become all that God has called to you to be?

Blessings,
Rev. Suzanne Ellis