Planted and Pointed!

Planted and Pointed! 

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

Psalms 8:3‭-‬4 NIV

Context:

David is credited with the words of this psalm, and when you consider his relationship with God, the words of this psalm will not be a surprise. How can a man speak so eloquently about a God he has no relationship with? How do you extol the virtues of a God you know nothing about, or be able to know your limits around a God you do not acknowledge as such? It is easy to speak about God publicly, as so many people can, but it is a different thing for your heart to bear witness to a personal relationship with this God. Which one do I have: just a mouth profession alone or in addition, a heart confirmation, a life affirmation and an eye on eternity? 

David took a good look, or maybe two, at God and the wonders of his hands, as well as the place of man in all of creation, and he just had to wonder why man plays a critical and fundamental role in everything. Man sits at the heart of all that is called earth, and there are even borders beyond the planet earth that man is also seeking to conquer. All the advancements in science, technology and space exploration all point to the amazing mind that is man's, which is not really a surprise considering he is made in the image of the amazing God. That is the thrust of today's extract. 

Message and Response:

As I take a careful look at all of creation, what do I see: my special place in all these, or God's mighty hand in all these? It matters what I see, because my response and reaction will be based on my reality. Men have gone to the extreme of worshipping the things their hands have made, forgetting that the created WILL ALWAYS be inferior to the Creator. We seem to place more emphasis on what our hands can achieve for us, forgetting that it is only by God that our hands can even try to achieve anything. The psalmist knew the origins of all things, which is why he could say: your heavens, the work of your fingers, the things you have set in place. There was no doubt as to the source; do I share the same mind as David here? 

God created all things; this is the start of all good things. Until I come to this reality, I am only wasting my time pursuing any other reality. The world has its own version of things; the Word of God has its own version of things. Have I taken time to consider all that my eyes see, so I can come to the same conclusion as David here? And when I have considered all that my eyes see, there is only obr conclusion: God is God over all. If there is any other conclusion different from this, then it means I do not yet know the God that David talks about here. 

It is not a wonder then that David could speak about man this way. When God created man, he called the whole heaven to bear witness to the greatness that was about to unfold. He made man in his own image, after his likeness, and gave him dominion and authority over all that had been made. Take a look at even the simplest of things around you, maybe the flowers. We do not know how the beautiful flowers come to be, yet, at the snip of a knife, they are cut down and begin to wither. The lush green grass looks healthy, yet at the start of autumn or winter, all the green disappears. If God could still clothe such objects with so much beauty, imagine what it is for those whom he breathed upon and gave a measure of himself. That is the value of man, and let no other person like yourself tell you otherwise. 

It is not man's opinion that should drive my focus, but the view of the God who made, formed and placed me where I would be pointedly efficient for him. The value of my life is best seen when I live for the pleasure of the one who created me. I have listened long enough to people who cannot guarantee the next minute, instead of seeking the pleasure and purpose of the one who is eternal. As long as I have life, I can still make amends. As long as I still breathe, it is not too late to make changes. I am planted and pointed by the one who made me and my life's pursuit must be to discover the reason and the environment for the fulfillment of God's purpose for my life. God will always play his part; I owe it to God to cooperate with him so his will can be established in me. God is too busy to create idle lives, or lives for which he has no use, but he will not go against the exercise of my own freewill. If I choose him, he will make my life a blessing; if I reject him, I cannot blame him for how my life turns out. His time of favour is here.