Human Beings, Not Doers
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10
If someone were to ask you to describe yourself, how would you respond?
This question was recently posed to me, and the first thing that came to mind was what I do. I am a musician. I think a lot of us tend to respond to such a question in a similar fashion, by stating what we do. I play soccer. I am a student. I own a business. These initial responses may all be true for each individual, but boy are they revealing of how we view ourselves.
We have been groomed by our culture to find our identity in what we do. What we do gives us purpose; it motivates us, and how well we do whatever it is we do determines our reputation. To an extent, there is nothing wrong with this, except for the fact that God does not create us to be human doings, He creates us to be human beings.
Even writing this makes me cringe a little. When I think “being,” words that come to mind are: lazy, sitting, slacker, unmotivated. When God created us however, these are not the words He had in mind. I think that a lot of us, me included, live to earn. To earn success, approval, good repute, promotion. Again though, this is not God’s intention for His creation.
In Ephesians, God says through Paul that, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” These verses are actually quite encouraging. God is telling us that we don’t have to earn our salvation. In fact, it’s impossible to earn it because it’s a gift.
Furthermore, God has already planned the good works He wants to do through us. Where we go wrong is when we try to get in the way of God’s plan. We align our thinking with the culture, thereby justifying a life where we earn our way up to the top of whatever we’re trying to reach. As a result, what we do tends to overshadow and eventually define who we are.
Our role is just to be - to be ready. Ready for whatever it is that God plans to do through us individually. We do this by spending time with Him and asking Him to prepare our hearts, bodies, and minds. We must recognize the gifts He has given us and be a good steward of them, readying them for use.
Who knows what God will do through you?! He’s known to do the impossible. So, are you as a being ready? Or are you too busy doing?