#148 Formed For His Glory
When I was about one year old my family lived in a house with floor furnaces. I
can remember Daddy having to lift the heavy floor grates to light the pilots as
winter approached. One morning I walked over the floor furnace. I cried because
my feet were seared on the furnace grate. I stood still in fear. Momma grabbed
me off the furnace grate and put butter over the burns on my feet. The blisters
grew and I cried. My parents called Granny and she came over to our house. She
was a godly woman and raised her children with a strong belief in God. Granny
sat me on her lap and began praying scriptures quietly as she rubbed my feet.
I'm not certain but I think one of them was Isaiah 43:2 "...when thou walkest
through the fire, thou shalt not be burned." I stopped crying. Jesus heard her
prayer and sent healing to my little feet. - excerpt paraphrased from Healed
by Jesus by Jim Kerlin.
Text: Isaiah 43:1-7
Prop: a baby walker from the nursery
Summary: We are created to bring glory to God.
Every baby must learn to walk. At about 10 months of age, a baby stops crawling
and begins to stand up. Look at this baby walker I brought from the nursery. You
may have been placed in a walker when you were young. It keeps a baby from
falling until the legs strengthen. Your parents probably cheered as you took
your first steps. Today's lesson is about a nation (a land full of people) that
was created by God. It is called Israel.
The prophet Isaiah wrote that God formed the people of Israel for His glory.
[Read Isaiah 43:1,7]
Isaiah spoke of how God called his people by name. He got up close and personal
with his people. He protected them as a young nation when they crossed the Red
Sea and the Jordan River. He sheltered them in the desert. He told them not to
fear because He was with them. God was with them when they were learning to walk
as a nation. He promised to bring them back into Palestine after being scattered
among the nations. On May 14, 1948 the State of Israel was declared a sovereign
nation.* God kept his promise.
Though this scripture is about a nation, the Bible says we are formed with a
purpose. We are created to bring glory to God. "Give unto the Lord the glory due
unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the
beauty of holiness." (1 Chronicles 16:29) We find meaning in loving the God who
created us. The Lord Jesus is "the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour." It is
through our Lord Jesus that we are part of the family of God.
Let us pray. Dear Lord Jesus, help me as I learn to walk with You. May
everything that I do bring praise and glory to You. Amen.
©2006 by Jim Kerlin. All rights reserved.
*See Declaration of Israel at
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Dec_of_Indep.html.