Someone Like Me
For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.
—Psalm 103: 14
When we look back on the first-century believers and the apostles in particular, we tend to see them on pedestals, as though they walked around carrying pedestals under their arms, and when they were preparing to say something, they would climb up on them. They would speak in King James English. We see them as perfect people in stained glass.
Yet when we read the biblical accounts of their lives, this is certainly not the case. If we were to have had the opportunity to check these guys out back then, the last thing we would have thought was, I think these men will change their world. These were common, salt-of-the-earth-type people. They had calloused hands and few social graces. They were uneducated. They had a limited knowledge of the world. They had undefined leadership and no money. We wouldn’t have bet too much on their future.
But something happens to a person when he witnesses someone rising from the dead. That has a way of changing your perspective. It dramatically impacted these men.
One of the things I love about the Bible is that it’s a thoroughly honest book, presenting us with those whom God used, warts and all, shortcomings and all. That is one of the reasons I am so appreciative of the Bible. It gives hope to people like me . . . people like me who fail . . . people like me who fall short. We think, If God can use someone like that, maybe there is hope for me. That is precisely the point. God recorded all this for us so we can see that He can work in spite of our weakness.
Copyright © 2006 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org.
Copyright © 2006 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.
