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Who Do You Think You Are?

                The way we see our circumstances is often as important as the circumstances themselves.  To illustrate that point, a Yale University professor told about a friend of his who had a job interview.  She got up early, dressed in her nicest clothes and arrived at office building early for her 11 o’clock appointment.  She took a seat in the waiting room and was somewhat surprised when, at 10:45, she was called into the room.  “They must be running early” she thought.
                A few days later the boss called and offered her the job.  He then mentioned that he was very impressed with how she handled herself despite the circumstances.  “What circumstances?” she asked.  “Well, most people would have been terribly nervous and apologetic had they shown up 45 minutes late, but you acted as if nothing was wrong at all” he replied.  That is when she realized that the interview was really scheduled for 10 am.  Thinking that she was early, this woman was completely relaxed which surprised the boss so much that he hired here because of her unflappable nature.  Had she known she was late, she would have been a wreck, but her perception of being early caused her to act differently. 
The King James Version translates Proverbs 23:7 by saying, “As a man thinks, so is he”.  If that is true, then, it is worth asking, “How do we see ourselves spiritually?”  The Bible gives us several pictures to guide our thinking here.
First, you are a child of the king.  I John 3:1 says, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 
Secondly, we are “Christ’s ambassadors” (2 Corinthians 5:20). 
Both of those thoughts remind us that we represent someone else.  We come in the name of the King and we come with his power.
Here is a third, possibly less intimidating, picture to ponder:  You are a container.  A vessel.  “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).  The focus here is on the treasure, not the container itself.  In other words, it is not about you, but rather about what God has done in and through you.
As Christian people, we make a huge mistake when we assume that we have no power and can do nothing.
We need a different picture.

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