Nothing?

First I just have to share what my hubby said to me this morning....."I'll have you know that I threw the toothpaste out even when I knew there was still a little bit in there!!!" OK, from some of the comments I received, I am not sure that my heart came through on my last post. Maybe my heart will be better revealed as time goes on.

Which brings me to today's ponderings. I received an email from a dear friend yesterday. It was a passage from a book written by Madame Guyon. While I love reading her, and appreciate the depth of her insights, this particular passage on this particular day just didn't seem to sit right with me.
She was talking about our "nothingness" and how we can only come to God with revelation of that. I agree in part with what she shared. But I believe there is so much more to it. I also believe there are too many people who are convinced they are nothing, therefore they never live up to their God given potential.

God is the Potter. We are the clay. But a potter doesn't leave the clay in a lump of nothingness. He creates something wonderful with it! You!! Me!! I think to leave it with the thought that we are nothing and God is everything, is to leave us in a state of uselessness. A lump of clay has little purpose. But a created vessel has a purpose, whatever purpose its maker chooses for it!

I sense that Madame's point was more of our necessity to acknowledge that God is the Potter and on our own we have nothing to offer. But I would say that a lump of nothing has nothing to acknowledge, a created vessel has a Creator to thank and a reason to worship. A vessel has usefulness. But a vessel must first be filled to be useful. Maybe that is the key.

This being Christmas season, I think often of the Wise Men, or Magi. What an incredibly beautiful picture, to see these grown men bowing in humility to the blessed Babe. If they felt they were nothing, then they would not have stepped out in the wisdom that they knew they possessed, and followed the star to where the Baby Jesus was lying in that manger. They might have thought, "Who are we to think that star has any meaning? Why would we follow it? We are nothing....We are nobodies....."
Or think of  Mary and how she anointed Jesus' feet with that expensive perfume in the most beautiful act of worship. I don't believe she would have had the courage to go into that room full of religious men and do what she did if she felt like she were nothing. I think she was able to do it because finally, after Jesus "saw" here and declared her forgiven, she knew who she was! And because of that revelation she was compelled to worship Him!

My sister rescued a dog, a Cocker Spaniel. She is a beautiful creature, but because she was neglected and abused in her former life, she is very timid and shy. She trusted only my sister in the beginning. She still sits at her feet in adoration. But because of the gentleness and loving care my sis has given this dog, she is beginning to come out of her shell.....and my sister is beginning to see glimpses of the beautiful animal she was created to be. And that is her desire for this dog, for her to be everything she was created to be, not to just sit at her feet in adoration. She wants her to live! She wants her to enjoy being a dog! That is what brings my sister the most joy.

Can our Creator desire any less for us?