Pictures of You

We can learn so much more about God’s diversity through hearing other people’s experiences and thoughts.

Matthew 8.1-17

Reference: v. 9  “For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.  I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes.  I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (NIV Bible)

Explore: Everyone has a different view on life.  Due to family background, study and training as well as individual personalities, we all experience things differently.  Going to the opera might seem like a dream come true for one person and yet it may be perceived as a living hell by another.  One person may really rise to the occasion of being given the opportunity to give a public address, where another person would rather eat dirt than stand in front of people and speak.
While we all view the world through these different perceptions, we also view God uniquely too.  Through our unique background, experiences and abilities we are able to see God in a different light to others.  This amplifies God’s diversity and also His amazing creative capacity in that He made us all so uniquely.  Just like the Centurion viewed Jesus as having power and authority like he did, so too we can view Jesus as having the same gifts that we possess, just better and perfected!

Application: It is great to hear other people’s perspective of God.  We can learn so much more about His diversity through hearing other people’s experiences and thoughts.  Sure enough, we will always filter them through our understanding of God but we must never box God into just one perspective.  He is so much bigger than we could ever imagine and we can only hope to learn more about Him everyday.  If I had learnt one thing about God every single day of my life I would already be up to knowing 11,014 things about God… and that would just be the beginning!  We will never be able to fully understand God while we are here on earth, but that shouldn’t stop us trying!  The better we know God, the greater our lives will be as we learn more about how we too should live.

Prayer: Lord, you are so immense, our simple minds will never be able to fully understand You.  May we constantly learn more about You each day so that we can live as You would have us live.  Amen.

Matthew