BIBLE READING: 1 Samuel 8-10
It wasn’t that long ago that I was watching my usual morning show as I prepared myself for the day ahead, and they were doing a segment on the clothing celebrities were wearing to award shows. The host was stating that instead of paying thousands of dollars for a gown by Versace, Ralph Lauren or Gucci, you could put together a very similar outfit for only a few hundred dollars. Why is it that we always want to look like someone else? If we are honest with ourselves, it isn’t just looking like someone else; we are always seeking to be like someone else. Society seems to be driven to want the same clothes, the same house, the same talents, the same personality and even the same hairstyle of those around us. We try every get rich quick scheme, attempt the new fad diets and exercise programs and some even resort to plastic surgery, just to be like someone else. Can’t we just be happy with who we are, who God made us to be without trying to be like everyone else. The Bible is clear that each person is created in the image of God (Genesis 1.27). Not only that, but each of us has a unique set of qualities that make us useful for God’s purpose (I Corinthians 12), yet, we are constantly unhappy with the product that God gave us. We constantly think to ourselves, “Why can’t I look like that…be like that…be like them? Although these feelings may be somewhat normal, they are very dangerous. In I Samuel 8.5, the Israelites want to look like everyone else. They noticed that no other nation that they came across had judge’s ruling over them, they all had kings, “Why can’t we be like the other nations? Why can’t we be like them?” Although that wasn’t their intention, I wonder if this is how that sounded to God, “God, we don’t like who we are. You messed us up, we wish we were someone else.” Can you believe that? After all that God had done for them by bringing them out of the depths of slavery, making them his own people, His own holy nation. That decision by the Israelites not only displeased God but led to a pattern of thinking that would forever haunt the nation. Sound familiar…just like the Israelites, we too are driven to be something we were never intended to be. I wonder if God ever wishes to say to us, “You are one of a kind! You are special! You are exactly who I created you to be, why can’t you see that? Please…please…don’t try to be like everyone else, just be who I created you to be. I made you in My Image…like Me, why can’t that be good enough for you?” I pray that we not only be happy with who we are, but that we thrive in attaining God’s purpose for our lives.