HOW WE ARE TO LIVE IS—TOTALLY UP TO THE CREATOR!
“Drip down, O heavens, from above,
(Isaiah 45: 8 NASB)
And let the clouds pour down righteousness;
Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit.
And righteousness spring up with it.
I, [GOD HIMSELF]
the LORD,
have created it.”
Oftentimes, we look at our lives and exclaim, “My, this is good,” and when we do, what we really focus upon are the things we have purchased, saved for, grown, or accomplished. Notice, that even if we
- Work hard to purchase that which we want and need—OR
- Save for, putting money away for the treasure we so desire—OR
- Planted, cultivated, grown, & even harvested with the talents and skills we possess—OR EVEN
Accomplished through a strong work ethic, ingenuity, or sheer discernment—STILL
We have not CREATED a solitary object, person, life, or place.
ONLY GOD RECEIVES THE DISTINCTION AS ‘THE CREATOR.’
In reading the Bible, from the book of Isaiah this morning, I find myself drawn to a particular thought that I will strive my best to deliver: Since God created us, we are responsible to Him for the way we live.
- I remember well when I first received my driver’s license at age sixteen, and THAT’S WHEN I thought, “I am now the master of my going and coming.”
Quickly, my dad put an end to those wayward thoughts swirling around in my head.
- I remember well when I graduated from high school, began attending the community college system, and turned eighteen years old. I thought: “Now, finally, I can be the boss of me.”
Quickly, my dad reminded me how I still lived at home, under his roof, so he had the authority to demand certain actions and/or reactions from me.
- I remember well when I became a married woman at the age of nineteen, how my husband and I began to forge our way into our future, and because there were monthly expenses, we both needed to work. I thought, “I am my own boss, I make my own money, & I am even a married woman.”
Quickly, my dad’s reminder that I needed to adhere to my employer’s demands, that I needed to follow the rules set before me, reminding me that clearly—I was not FULLY the master of my time if I wanted to earn a paycheck.
Wherever we go, however many years we acquire in age, or despite how many university degrees we earn to hang upon our walls—We are to remember with due diligence—GOD IS THE FATHER & CREATOR & PROVIDER & SUSTAINER & SAVIOR OF OUR SOULS!
“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—
An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!
Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands?’
Woe to him who says to the father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?’
Thus says the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel,
and his Maker:
‘Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons,
And you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.
It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it.
I stretched out the heavens with My hands
And
I ordained all their host.’ ”
(Isaiah 45: 9-12 NASB)
We have not CREATED a solitary object, person, life, or place.
ONLY GOD RECEIVES THE DISTINCTION AS ‘THE CREATOR.’
So, how we are to live out the days the LORD has given is—TOTALLY UP TO THE CREATOR!
IT IS A TRUTH—
- We are to be good stewards of what we have received.
- We are not to be so hasty in our throwing away that which the LORD has given to us.
- We are to walk with obedience, heeding to the perfect will of God our Father!
- We are NOT to backtalk our Heavenly Father!
- We are to remember who we are & WHOSE we are!
- We are to strive to use our spiritual gifts, and we are to walk with Jesus.
- We are to use our abilities in the way that pleases our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Even when we walk through the valleys of life, through grief, job loss, heartache, disappointments, & trials—STILL WE ARE TO RAISE OUR VOICES & OUR HANDS AS WE STAND IN AWE & PRAISE THE KING OF KINGS!
The prophet Isaiah spoke throughout the entire forty-fifth chapter of the book within the Bible that bears his name, reminding each of us: HOW WE ARE TO LIVE IS—TOTALLY UP TO THE CREATOR—because ONLY GOD RECEIVES THE DISTINCTION AS ‘THE CREATOR.’
“I am the LORD, and there is no other;
(Isaiah 45: 5-7 NASB)
Besides Me there is no God.
I will gird you, though you have not known Me;
That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other,
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating calamity;
I am the LORD who does all these.”