Chosen for Greatness

Exodus 3:1-4 (ESV) ¹ Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. ³ And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” ⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

The world is replete with books of instruction on greatness. There are books which give the secrets of selling, negotiating, climbing the corporate ladder, obtaining a better job and so on. There are books which tell people how to reach their financial and power goals in life. The books promise greatness and deliver greatness to the authors who wrote them.

I suppose being rich and powerful is great if you only want it to exist for a short period. Even most of the presidents aren't remember by a majority of students. I don't believe that many Americans could identify Fillmore, Harding, Garfield, Hoover or Coolidge. They would not be able to say anything significant about their administrations. One of these didn't have much of an administration anyway. Do you know which one it is?

So, either people are looking for greatness that will last in their lifetimes or they are expecting greatness which will last for some time but will eventually fade until only the name is remembered. Few historians will remember what was done.

Christians aren't immune from wanting greatness. I believe that is why they flocked to the Purpose Driven Life. They were hoping they believed that God would them great if they simply knew what they were supposed to do. They thought they could cause greatness to come to themselves.

Yet, that isn't God's method in the Bible. I can't think of a story of someone whom God made great who asked God to make his name great. God chose them. They obeyed. Their obedience made them great. God chose them and knew they would obey Him. Their greatness did not come from their seeking it. Their greatness came from the obedience to a God who sought them.

But how many of us have responded to the things God has already called us to do? After all, why should God give us more when we haven't done what He has asked of us already? They should He expect us to act in faith if we don't have the faith that He will care for us?  Thus, we fail to tithe because we believe that we must keep what we have because we can't believe God will supply us with even more.

We fail to serve Him when we are asked to the do the mundane. We refuse to serve in the church nursery. We refuse to show up for the committee meeting we agreed to serve. We refuse to help clean the church landscape. We refuse to help in the church soup kitchen. Many times we refuse because there are better things to do. Thus, we aren't asked to the do the great. We haven't been faithful in the small things. We have been selfish.

But greatness is being found obedient to whatever God calls you to. It is in giving a cup of water and washing the feet of others. It is in quiet prayer and in working in the church kitchen. It is in living the Christian life so that others will emulate what you do.

The three most important words Moses ever said were, "Here I am." This is where the greatness began.

Sure, he was chosen but I am chosen too. And so are you.

What is your answer when the Lord calls you?

"Here I am."