From My Perspective - - -

Some people love to label other people by characterizing them in some way or seeking ways that would demean another. It seems as though civil discourse takes a back seat if an opportunity presents itself to make a negative comment. The intent is to form an opinion that will denigrate someone else by use of a single term or phrase. In many situations, the negative remark or accusation has its intended result. The person so labeled is forced to spend an inordinate amount of time and resources to remedy the negatives that have been deliberately or carelessly bandied about.

If you had a choice, with what would you like to be compared? Why would that label be your choice? What would you hope would be conveyed about you if one word or brief phrase was used to summarize who you are? A friend of mine recently printed in a Church Bulletin one type of comparison. It was the comparison to a pencil. A Pencil may seem to be of little consequence and surely without a great cost. The item suggested: “A pencil maker told the pencil five important lessons it needed to remember just before placing it in a box: (1) Everything you do will always leave a mark! (2) You can always correct a mistake you have made! (3) What is important is inside of you! (4) In life, you will undergo an occasional painful sharpening which will only make you better and more functional! (5) To be the best Pencil, you must allow yourself to be held and guided by the hand that holds you…!” Obviously, pencils have different purposes: The Artist needs some pencils with a softer lead so he can achieve a desired result in terms of dimension and shading; The Draftsman needs pencils with a hard lead so that the result he achieves will easily display the sharp distinctive of what has been drawn and the dimension of each area.

Some people use a pencil in ways for which it was not designed and manufactured – they will chew on it; tap it incessantly; toss it aside as though it had no value. That can and may characterize that particular life – a person with no purpose; one who doesn’t try to be creative or develop skills; one who chooses to be an annoyance to others; one who has no set of values. This type of person is usually marked by low self-esteem and under-achievement. Such a one is content to drift aimlessly through life and could care less about any label that is attached. Just leave him alone to chew on his pencil and to tap it endlessly – and then – to be tossed aside as though it had no value.

There are two Biblical illustrations (among several) that describe how life can and should be viewed: (1) The meaningfulness and purposefulness of a life with correct priorities, namely, a godly life. Psalm 1 describes it well. The person who avoids all of the negative appeals that come his way is likened to – Psalm 1:1-3, “… his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” This life is marked by productiveness and fruitfulness. (2) One must be – should be – cognizant of the brevity of life. It carries with it the idea of the adage – “never put off to tomorrow what can be done today.” In James 4:13-14, “…you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit -  yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."

In my early teens, when I had no sense of direction or purpose, Mark 8:35-37 had a convicting and haunting impact upon my life: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?For what can a man give in return for his soul?” Gradually, and in His timing, the Lord moved me and prepared me to serve Him. I had sense enough and willingness to be like a pencil in the hand of the Master – to be used as He saw fit and wherever He wished to use me. How about you? Are you clay in the Potter’s Hand – a pencil in the hand of The Master Artist? Consider these things with me!