Touch the Inside February 1, 2013
Dear Family and Friends,
“You created my inmost self, knit me together in my
mother's womb. For so many marvels I thank you; a wonder am I,
and all your works are wonders. You knew me through and through,” Psalm 139:13-14 NJB
In my 52 years I have seen the
mountains of Colorado and Tennessee, the deep green-blue Atlantic and Pacific
Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico. I have taken pictures of sunrises and sunsets
from atop a cruise ship and from a balcony in Jamaica. I have smelled the roses
in my mother’s garden and the wild honeysuckle at my grandmother’s. I have
watched horses run from my window in Ireland, and gazed in awe at the depths of
the Grand Canyon.
All of these wondrous things
convince and convict me of a God who is the Master Craftsman. Yet of all these
marvelous creations He considers us, you and me, His crowning glory. We are His
workmanship, formed with His hands, and with His very breath He brought us to
life. In His image He formed us. “So
God created man in His own
image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
Gen 1:27 NKJV
Why
do we resist the understanding that we matter to Him?
“Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?
And not one of them is forgotten before God.
Do not fear
therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Luke 12:6, 7b
NKJV
Why do we doubt that He loves and cares for
us?
“casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
1Peter 5:7 NKJV
He
took the time and thought and energy to craft each of us.
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Luke
12:7a NKJV
He knows us, planned our lives, and He wants
us to live abundantly.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand that we
should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10
NKJV
I
don’t say all these things for us to get puffed up in our own importance but to
remind us all that who we are in Christ is what matters most. Through
Christ we have the strength we need. Through the Holy Spirit living in us we
have the guidance we need. Through Almighty God we have life. And that my
dearest family and friends should free us to live the abundant, fruitful life
that God has planned.
