Anything But

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26–31, NIV 1984).

My Musings – “A coach is just a guy whose best class in grammar school was recess and whose best class in high school was P.E. I never thought I was anything but a guy whose best class was P.E.” — John Madden. The coach didn’t do too badly for a guy whose best class was P.E. His win/loss/tie record was 103-32-7, his playoff record was 9W-7L, and he was the winning coach in one Super Bowl.

I never thought I was anything but a [your thought here]. Don’t be too quick to dismiss yourself. Consider these few examples.

Moses, who God spoke with face-to-face, had “never been eloquent…slow of speech and tongue,” but became the Law Giver.

Gideon, a judge of Israel whose “clan [was] the weakest in Manasseh, and [was himself] the least in [his] family,” but who became a “mighty warrior.”

David, the greatest king of Israel who started out as a lowly shepherd dismissed by his family as “the youngest… [out] tending the sheep,” but who God considered “a man after His own heart.”

Peter and John, just two fishermen really, who never thought they were anything but a couple of “unschooled, ordinary men,” but were hand-picked by Jesus to be among His first disciples, and who the religious authorities “when they saw the courage of Peter and John…they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

Finally, Paul, a zealous “Pharisee of Pharisees” intent on destroying the infant Church, became God’s “chosen instrument to carry [His] name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.”

My Advice – Never thought you were anything but “slow of speech and tongue, weakest, least or youngest in your family, unschooled and ordinary, or even anti-religion? In God’s service you can be a courageous and mighty warrior, a person after God’s own heart, His chosen instrument for a task He has picked out just you. Still think you are anything but? Take note but stay humble my friends.