You were born for this…

¹ As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
– John 9:1-15

Yesterday I had preached at our church (Sermon can be found here), “we were born for this…” For today’s devotional, I felt that some of us who were unable to hear that message, may need to hear it too, and so I will give you a devotional version of my sermon today. If it so speaks to you, I encourage you to join the link above.

But we will start by capturing the image of what most of us (I hope) certainly love!

Pizza. Who doesn’t love a good slice of pizza? Do you have a favorite kind or topping? It’s amazing how something so simple can bring us together and make us happy. This brings us to something a bit deeper. But hold that image for a moment in your mind.

Jesus’ disciples ask Him about a man who was born blind. They wondered whose fault it was. We do this a lot, don’t we? When we see someone struggling, with illness, or having committed a crime, we often jump to conclusions about why. But most of the time, we’re just guessing and, honestly, it is far from kind and rather hurtful when we do.

The truth is, not every murderer has had a terrible childhood or bad parenting.

Not every criminal has a terrible past.

Not every adulterer has family problems

Not every sick person is paying for something that they didn’t do or that they did in the past

not every person who is ill is destined to die that way or live that way for the rest of their lives.

Jesus told His friends that the man’s blindness wasn’t about blame. It was a way to show God’s power. He wasn’t born merely a blind man. This flips the script on how we usually see tough times or challenges. He was born for the glory of God.

You were born for the glory of God.

Now, back to pizza for a second. If you just looked at the raw ingredients, you might not think much of them. In fact if you just throw all the ingredients together on the table.. like flour, raw vegetables, the block of cheese, and whatever you can think of at the moment that you know a pizza may be composed of, it wouldn’t be appetizing in that form. But when the dough is kneaded properly, baked, and all the ingredients that are well prepared and cooked at the right temperature come out of the oven, you’ve got something wonderful. A piping hot, fresh pizza with cheese and crust that is bubbling and still puffing from the heat. Mouth watering to say the least.

All That’s a bit like us with God on our own journeys of life. On our own, we might not feel like much. But with God’s help, going through life’s struggles – the heat and pains of life, we have the potential to come out better and show the world a little bit of God’s goodness and grace in our lives – even if it certainly doesn’t feel that way when we are still healing.

Even when life is really tough, God has a way of bringing good out of it. Jesus’ own life showed us that. He went through the worst, but it was all part of a bigger plan to show how much God loves us.

You were born to Worship the Father. To bring him praise, to bring him honor, to bring him glory – in both your flesh and in your soul. There was no other purpose to your life than that, and WHAT NEWS THAT IS!

So, remember, no matter what you’re going through, you’re not just going through it for nothing. You’re part of something bigger, showing the world God’s love and power. You were made for this – to shine for God, even in the hard times.

You were born for the glory of God.