Recognition

​I often notice when I meet people for the first time they look at my chest.  Now that sounds weird doesn’t it!  What I mean is that when I am wearing a uniform I often feel like I am being sized up or evaluated for the cloth patches sewn on my shirt.  Whether it is the military, Girl Scouts, AWANA, varsity jackets, etc., patches, medals ribbons and pins tell a story of what kind of training or accomplishments a person achieved.  

Everyone needs recognition and desires it to some extent.  You may be the kind of person who shies away from the spotlight and prefers not to be noticed publicly.  Yet still it is important to receive thanks and to know that your work or contribution in some way matters.  Many spend their entire life trying to earn the praise of their parents.  Others feel unfulfilled in their job because the boss never notices or remains unsatisfied with their work.  It is a terrible thing to feel unworthy, unrecognized, and ultimately unwanted.
 
Meditation
Isaiah 26:12,13--Lord, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our work for us. Yahweh our God, lords other than You have ruled over us, but we remember Your name alone.
 
The prophet Isaiah’s observations in the verses above are important to us for several reasons.  First, no matter what you and I accomplish, the glory should go to God.  He is the One who made us, gave us our ability and ultimately deserves the credit.  Authentic humility occurs when we know why we have what we have.  Continuous striving for people recognition reveals an absence of peace in our hearts.  When we quit straining for personal credit and rest in God’s glory that is when we obtain serenity.  All that we have accomplished He made possible.  

Second, you and I don’t have to live our lives trying to measure up before others. Our identity is not determined through the lips of people but rather in the affirmation of our Savior.  Many lords rule over us but God’s name alone is the one we honor.  We give His name glory because He truly cares about us.  He already recognizes our worth.  The proof of this is the cross—a sacrificial measure we neither merit or understand.  When I meditate on God’s love for me, I have all the recognition I need.  When I consider what He has done I’m reminded that my quest is to honor Him for each and every success.  That is something to think about . . . in reveration.
 
Inspiration
The cross is the deliberate recognition of what the personal self is for, that is, to be given to Jesus, and we take up that cross daily and prove we are no longer our own.—Oswald Chambers in The Servant as His Lord
 
©2004 Daniel York  ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)