ODJ: not about me

April 11, 2015 

READ: 1 Chronicles 29:1-16 

Wealth and honour come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength (v.12).

How much money does a person have to make to be a success? How many awards must an individual receive in order to be deemed successful? According to New York Times columnist David Brooks, even if you achieve Hall of Fame success status like some great athletes, it might not be enough. Brooks said some athletes simply can’t see past themselves:

Self-preoccupied people have trouble seeing that their natural abilities come

from outside themselves and can only be developed when directed towards something else outside themselves. Enclosed in self, they come to believe that their talents come from self [and are for themselves]. . . . Locked in a cycle of insecurity and self-validation, their talents are never enough, and they end up devouring what they have been given.

According to the writer of 1 Chronicles, David didn’t have a problem seeing that all he had came from outside himself and that his fame was to be directed towards Someone outside himself. After the people gave generously towards the construction of the “holy Temple” (29:3), David praised God (v.10). The king declared that God was eternal, all-powerful and sovereign over all (vv.11-12). In spontaneous gratitude, David thanked and praised the Lord as the source of all personal and corporate greatness, strength and wealth—acknowledging the insignificance of those things and his dependence on Him. Then he assured God that He could rejoice over His people, for the resources the people had given flowed from hearts motivated by integrity, willingness and joy (v.17).

—Marvin Williams

365-day-plan: 1 Kings 1:5-27