"More Like Jesus"
May 17, 2019
When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?
~ Psalm 8:3-4 (ESV)
There's a hobby shop that carries a jigsaw puzzle with this title, "Little Red Riding Hood's Hood." Some fiendishly clever jigsaw puzzle maker must have designed it in a fit of vengeance aimed at the world in general. The puzzle has over 1,000 pieces, all uniformly red. When assembled, it makes a simple Crimson Circle, eight inches in diameter.
When God began creating, He wove into His creation a much more exquisite, interlocking design than this puzzle. He did it as well for the life of each person who would inhabit the natural world. He structured His creation in such an intricate way that each event, each detail of individual lives was interconnected with other events and details in the lives of His other creatures. He did it, not by whim, but in love, And in so doing, an unbelievably beautiful and complex pattern began to form.
Since the Lord Jesus is all-knowing and all-powerful, we assume the creation was an easy thing for Him. And in one sense it was, it must have been, because God has the power to do anything at all, and this gave Him the necessity of choice. He had to choose the "right" alternative from many possibilities.
So how did He decide? Majority vote? The greatest good for the greatest number? Did He set Gabriel down to flip a celestial coin? Or as some suggest, did He put the original actors on stage, wish them well, and leave the theater, promising to return at some future date to see what had become of them?
Of course not! In moments of weakness, many of us have fleetingly feared that this is the case. But in fact we know that all things in our lives are sent by our loving Father for our best interests. Even when it's hard for us to feel or understand this, we know it. Each joy, each problem, each new day proceeds and concludes under the precise guidance of our Savior.
All of this concern for you, for me, is our Father's plan to make each of us in a unique and beautiful way more and more like Jesus. In times of puzzlement and perplexity, wonder and worry, we know that all things are working together in God's total plan for the good of His believers.
THE PRAYER: Heavenly Father, by the breath of Your mouth, You called the universe into existence, and man as Your greatest creation. Teach us to lead lives worthy of You and committed to the Son You sent as our Savior. In His Name we pray. Amen.
From The Lutheran Layman, January 1979 issue, "Little Red Riding Hood's Hood," by Jane L. Fryar. Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
There's a hobby shop that carries a jigsaw puzzle with this title, "Little Red Riding Hood's Hood."
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