PSALM 100:3

"Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture."


Self-made man (or woman).  Ha!  The phrase is ironic.  First, God has made us from birth.  He has made us exactly who we are.  "What do you have that you did not receive?" (I Cor 4:7).  We think because we "put ourselves through school" and have such wonderful gifts and talents that we are responsible for amazing things.  Ha!  "It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves."  Second, we get nowhere in life alone.  From a practical standpoint, anywhere we go in life is with others.  Parents, friends, family, teachers, mentors, co-workers, bosses and others help shape us, develop us and encourage us.


"We are His people and the sheep of His pasture."  I can't imagine how God feels when I sit on this earth and fawn over my "gifts".  It's preposterous and ridiculous.  Inconceivable really.  It's like Nebuchadnezzar: "Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence and by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?" (Daniel 4:30).  That did not initially turn out too well for him.  Or Herod in Acts 12: "On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them.  The people kept crying out, 'The voice of a god and not of a man!'  And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died."  His fate was even worse.  Why do I always compare my strengths to others' weaknesses, totally neglecting their strengths altogether?


Oh Lord, please correct me and change me.  So what's the solution?  Praising God.  Having an accurate view of the height of God's grandeur.  This does not mean I grovel and just call everything about myself poopy, but that He is so mighty and holy and awesome that I do not really even think about myself that much.  It's that my thoughts are occupied first with Jesus, then others, then myself.  J-O-Y (Jesus-Others-You).  Help this verse to be known deep within me: 


"Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
For the LORD is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations."