Serve the king of Babylon, and you will live. (Jeremiah 27:17)
We must not limit God in His dealings with us. With His ultimate goal of Christ-likeness to be formed within us (Romans 8:29), God will accomplish this His way, in His timing, and by any means necessary.
God used the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar and the pagan people of Babylon as instruments of judgment in the lives of His people, with the ultimate goal of weaning their hearts away from the things of this world. The message is clear for us today. We must accept God’s ways in our lives even when we cannot comprehend them. We must trust God’s heart even when we cannot trace His hand.
Every circumstance in your life is filled with God’s chosen instruments of sanctification, regardless of their relationship to Him. We must not think that God will only use the godly in forming Christ in us. God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things and He will use all things in this world to accomplish His plans for His people, and that includes you and me.
God will use any means necessary to grow and mature you in the faith. Perhaps an unsaved boss; a godless co-worker; a pagan neighbor; an atheistic friend. God will use both the pastor and the pagan, the godly and the ungodly, in accomplishing His purpose in this world, and that includes in each of His children too.
So, what king Nebuchadnezzar has God brought into your life to use to chisel Christ-like character in you today? Remember, the “ungodly” and the “unspiritual” are under God’s complete control at all times. Thank God today and be on the lookout for those unexpected instruments He is using in your life to make you more like Jesus, by any means necessary.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 