Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12

My husband and I travel a lot, so on the rare occasion that we are home, you can imagine the amount of work that awaits us. Mowing, sweeping, windows, laundry and DUSTING! Uggghhh, one of my least favorite chores. That is why I am NOT a knicknack collector. No pretty figurines or little vases or spoon collections for me. The cobwebs that accumulate and the furniture are enough dusting for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I like pretty things, in fact, there is a little gift boutique that I love to go to and it is chock full of knicknacky things, every thing from signs about dogs, to little police officer prayer figurines all the way up to women’s scarves and baby toys. I could shop in there all day long, buying unique little things for the people I care about. But, when I come out of there, I typically have a car full of dust collectors. They certainly represent the love that I am trying to convey the moment I present them, but after that ….DUST! They serve no further purpose.

There is another store that I can’t get enough of….it’s a tool store. Yup, TOOLS! I enjoy working with my hands so much! To me, creating something for someone I care about not only conveys that love that I am trying to express when I give a gift, but I can create things that are practical and useful!! I can also glorify God, by explaining that He is the one who gave me the talent or ability to create, and He deserves the applause, not me. I am just crazy about giving a gift to someone that I made, they can use and it can glorify Him!

That is how God created us. We were created with purpose, we were created in love, we were created to convey love and we were created to glorify the Father.

My hand made gifts, are each unique. Each having its own little nuances, its little peculiarities, it uses and it has its purpose. That is how we are, each one of us is unique (chatty, quiet, hospitable, glass half empty, glass half full, etc.), with our little peculiarities (don’t like crowds, like anchovies, afraid of heights, etc.) with our little nuances (naturally driven, sense of humor, witty, etc.), given talents that allow us to sing, dance, create things with our hands. Then there is our PURPOSE…

We were each created with a purpose, the scripture talks about it repeatedly. Psalm 57:2 says “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me. Ephesians 1:11 says “In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” 2 Timothy 1 says “God”, (verse 9) “who saved us and called us to the holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.” (The bold words are not bold in the scripture, they were made bold to assist in clarity).

God has made us to to be given and used to express His love to the world. Jesus was the greatest gift ever given and through us, He is the gift that just keeps giving. We are to reveal Him to those around us, we are to love the way that He did, we are to forgive the way that we were forgiven, we are to use our resources to minister to the broken and lost. Our purpose is to bring our Heavenly Father glory and in so doing, draw others to a saving relationship with Him.

So let me ask you….are you a hand made gift (used by God for His purposes)? Or, are you a knicknack.

We only have this short life to draw others to God. We will have eternity to praise, worship, adore, serve and honor Him, but only the few years we have in this life to be used by Him to save people from the consequences of their sin.

So, are you a hand made creation, conveying love, serving purpose and glorifying God or are you a knicknack, with no real purpose? Are you on a shelf collecting dust for God.

I pray that today, you would recognize how worthy our Heavenly Father is of your honor, devotion and service and, if you have found yourself to be a dust collector, that you would be motivated to climb down off of that shelf and stop being a pretty little knicknack.

Father, we are “sure of this, that” you “who began a good work in” us “will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus”. Thank you Father! Amen.

Luv ya!