“And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign Lord. “‘But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his.” Ezekiel 16:14-15
The Giver of all good things and the creator of who we are and all we are is our Heavenly Father. So, Why do we waste the gifts we’ve been freely given? And Why do we let others take from us the gifts God gave to us?
We become prideful and forget where it all came from. Then the world whispers to us that it was in our doing, our accomplishments, and we slowly slip into the trance of using all of us for the attention of the world.
God adorned Israel was beauty, strength, flourishing fields, and mighty armies. The greatness of Israel gained the attention of their neighboring kingdoms and communities and directed their attention off of God. So Israel became prideful over their own beauty and squandered their own gifts. They begin giving themselves away and selling off their gifts to the other kingdoms. Instead of looking to God and pointing the other kingdoms to him, Israel clung to all of the attention the world would give them.
The gifts we’re given, the you unique ways God created each of us, are meant for a purpose and within that purpose the greater purpose of glorifying him.
I’m a child of the 80s, and I’d say we had some of the most talented child stars to ever be on the big screen and sitcoms. I’m sure when they started out they were just using the gifts they’d been given but then the world began to trap them. Fame began to lead these children astray and their lives began to spiral out of control. As I’ve gotten older, I truly have felt horrible for them, I’ve wanted to help them, reach out to them and see them Restored, but these actors wouldn’t know me or speak to me if I walked in a room. These actors, these childhood stars, they are just normal people, created for a purpose and placed in this world. And, honestly, I see the same thing that happened to them, happen to people all around me.
Even I could’ve squandered the gifts God has given me. I could’ve gotten consumed in my own head and began to give all my gifts away, but God got my attention and has kept it for over 20 years now. Every time I feel like I’m starting to do things in my own power, he humbles me. God reminds me that every gift I have is fully from him. Nothing I have, nothing I do, is from my own doing. It is all His, and so the loudness of world doesn’t crowd Him out, I keep my eyes on Him daily. Anytime he nudges, I follow the direction he’s given me, even when my selfishness tries to hold me back. I will always choose to use the gifts he’s giving me for his purpose and not lose them for my own.
God has gifted you too. He has adorned you with beauty in his creation of you in this world. He has a purpose for you and wants you to use it to point others to him. Don’t let the world change your mind or steal you away. Keep your eyes on him so you use your gifts wisely. Keep your mind on him so you don’t give your heart away. The gifts you have are gifts from God, use them for His Glory and not your own.
Running 2 Fly 