A useful tool in the hand of the Master!
Nothing will remove you from a place of usefulness to God like pride and boasting.
September 12
Can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it? Is the saw greater than the person who saws? Can a whip strike unless a hand is moving it? Can a cane walk by itself?
Isaiah 10:15
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A useful tool in the hand of the Master!
God is describing how He is going to use the king of Assyria to punish His people for disobedience and rebellion. He then goes on to say that He is going to then punish the king of Assyria because of his pride and arrogance. It was God who gave the Assyrian king his power and it was the LORD who gave him the victory over His people. Isaiah accuses the Assyrian king of boasting of his power to overcome the people of God.
Isaiah then asks the rhetorical questions above. The answer is the same in all four questions; ‘No!’ The point is simple, the king of Assyria may boast of his great power and accomplishments, but it is God that used him as a simple tool to accomplish His will in the world and in the lives of His Chosen People.
There is an important lesson in this for modern-day Christians, especially those that are leading families, ministries, or churches. Don’t look upon the things that God is doing through you as ‘your accomplishments’. This devotional is close to the 600th one that I have written. It would be very easy to be impressed with myself for having accomplished something like this. Then I remind myself that I am not the writer, but only the conduit through whom the Holy Spirit has chosen to flow to produce this devotional.
If it ever becomes something that might be considered great, it is only because God has chosen to do so. I am simply the pen that God chose to write it. Without His hand holding the pen, it would never have happened. I am a tool in the hand of the Master.
It is this understanding that positions us to be of even greater use to God. When we understand and acknowledge that He is in control and is controlling everything, we are then in a position to be used to an even greater degree. Our next choice must be to let Him use us when He wants to and in the way that He wants. A pen cannot tell the person holding it what to write.
Nothing will remove you from a place of usefulness to God like pride and boasting. God resists the proud and boasting is stealing God’s glory. Instead we should have humble hearts before God and men. I have a goal of writing one of these devotionals for every chapter in the Bible, all 1,189 of them. It will only be possible if I keep my heart right before the LORD and remember who is actually doing the writing.
Whatever you do in this life, whether it is great or small is because God has used you to do it. Give Him the glory and rejoice that He chose to use you. Jesus, help us to be willing tools in the hand of the Master.
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