April 11, 2007

He is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate. Therefore men fear him; he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.

--Job 37:23-24

When I'm in a large city, I often find myself staring at and admiring great skyscrapers. They are so huge and powerful, looming over me as I stand beneath them on the sidewalk.

But when I fly in a plane over a large city full of skyscrapers, I get an entirely different view. Although these buildings tower over us and make us feel small when we are standing next to them, they look like tiny grains of sand when we see them from 30,000 feet.

God views all human efforts to impress Him as tiny grains of sand...even though we may think that we are pretty great. A good example is the tower of Babel in Genesis 11.  It may have impressed its builders in their vain attempt to reach up to God, but it was just a tiny speck to Him. 

Our wisdom is considered pretty foolish to God. God is never impressed with even our best efforts to please Him in our own strength.

Instead, God wants us to put our faith in Him, not ourselves or our own works. We need to take a "God's eye" view when it comes to our efforts to reach up to Him, because anything we do on our own falls short of His standards.

If you are living your life trying to impress God, stop.  Make it your purpose instead to submit to His great power, justice and righteousness.


GOD IS NEVER IMPRESSED WITH EVEN OUR BEST EFFORTS TO PLEASE HIM IN OUR OWN STRENGTH.