“Nor do we boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow so that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended. Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question of our boasting about work done in someone else’s territory. As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.” When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.”
2 Corinthians 10:15-18 NLT
What does God think about us, and whatever it is, how do we know? Paul wrote that it is no good “commend[ing] ourselves” because “it doesn’t count for much”. “The important thing is for the Lord to commend [us]”, he wrote. But the question is still there: if the Lord is commending us, how would we know, and what is He commending us for?
The Bible is full of encouraging verses answering this question, such as Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”. The picture behind this verse portrays our Master Creator God seeing us and our lives through the corridor of time and planning out our lives of service to Him. He could see if we would marry and who the spouse would be. He could see our giftings and how they would be used in our jobs or in our leisure. He would even have known about the church we would attend, the date of our decision to believe in Jesus and so on. The picture continues with our lives being created just as He intended. But the fact emerges that even though God created everyone in the miracle of birth, He could also see many who would reject Him, and it must have broken His heart. Through His grace, He ordained the creation and provided the opportunities for created beings full of potential yet riven by sin, and He loved them all. God’s plans for human beings continue today, as new births are announced all the time. But for us pilgrims, each one of us is “God’s masterpiece”; can we boast about this?
Another verse worthy of note is Ephesians 8:38, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love”. God loves us and He always will, because nothing can ever come between us. In all our thoughts and deeds, in our lives, in what we do and don’t do, His love and grace is always there for us, unstoppable, unmovable, and inviolable. But for us pilgrims, each one of us loved by God, can we boast about this?
We have a hope for the future. Jeremiah 9:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”. The plans God has for us are not just limited to our school years or perhaps our employment. His plans apply to the whole of our lives and, here’s the thing, our lives in eternity. God created us body, soul and spirit, and we know that when we pilgrims come to the end of our physical lives, our spirits will live on forever. Beyond the grave, God will still continue to love us and have good things for us to do. Heaven won’t be a time of drudgery and boredom. It will be a place where our spirits will experience “good things” beyond our wildest dreams. But for us pilgrims, each one of us loved by God, can we boast about this?
We pilgrims have much to thank God for, if we stop to think about it, even for a moment. God has commended us, and we are always before Him, in His thoughts. Isaiah 49:16a, “See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands …”. God also considers us precious, as His own eyes. Psalm 17:8, “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings”. These verses must surely cause us to rush out and stop every passerby, telling them of what we mean to God, and what He thinks of us. We surely must shout it out from every rooftop so that the world knows and understands the way in which the Lord has commended us. There is a line in the hymn “Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven” which reads, “ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven”. That’s who we are. The world out there will not consider this anything to boast about, but we surely do.
Father God. We praise and worship You today, secure in the knowledge that You love us and care for us, each and every day of our lives and beyond in the place where we will be with You. Thank You. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 