Be yourself

I read a quote this morning from Oscar Wilde – ‘Be yourself – everyone else is taken’.

It just made me realise that when God created each one of us He made us as He intended us to be. And yes, He wants us to ‘grow in strength and Spirit and be filled with wisdom’ as Jesus did (Luke 2 v 40) but He wants to use us as we are and not pretend or strive to be someone we are not. He wants us to acquire knowledge and wisdom but to be the person He intends us to be.

There is a story in 1 Samuel where young David, the shepherd boy wanted to go out onto the battlefield to kill Goliath so Saul clothed him in a coat of mail, a helmet with a sword fastened to the armour. However David said he couldn’t wear all this stuff as he wasn’t used to it and it was way too big and too heavy for him (see 1 Sam 17 v 38-39). So young David reverted to his normal gear of a bag containing 5 stones and a sling. This was the norm for him to protect himself and his sheep when attacked in the fields. So David chose to ‘be himself’ the only help he needed was to go in the Name of the Lord of hosts. As we know he was successful and killed the Philistine Goliath.

In Hebrew times names were important and they denoted who a man was. God himself told Moses to tell the people -‘I AM’ has sent me to you. The Lord himself YAHWEH, YESHUA = Jesus = the Lord who saves. So names are important, we are who God says we are, we can be what God wants us to be. In Jeremiah 29 v 11 we are told ‘I know the plans I have for you’ says the Lord ‘plans for good and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope’.(NLT). In John 16 v 23b ‘Whatever you ask the Father in My Name He will give you’ asking in the Name of Jesus is all we have to do to get direction in our lives, to guide us along the right path. For Jesus is the name above all names. There is power in the name of Jesus. So we don’t need to try to be someone we are not, just trust in God to lead us in the mighty name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

: Terry Walmsley :