Earlier this week Janell posted about these lighting fixtures on Savingyoudinero.com, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how insane it is that these old plastic containers have been re-purposed into art. The insane thing is that they are being sold for more than $100 each.
I’m not sure who in their right mind would pay $107 for an old plastic jug that is now a lamp, but the thing that has captured my attention is how if someone has found a way to take something ordinary and turn it into what, apparently, somebody thinks is extraordinary (and is willing to pay $107 for it).
That is exactly what God has done with us. He has taken our extremely ordinary sinful lives that deserve to be put in the garbage bin and turned them into something extraordinary that points to Himself and gives light to others.
Jesus said in John 10:10 that He came so that we may have abundant life, and having experienced Him and been around other Christian leaders for awhile now, His work in our lives seems pretty extraordinary to me.
We see this time and time again in the stories of the Bible. Look at some examples:
- Joseph went from a foreign slave to the second in command of Egypt
- Moses went from a fugitive to the great leader of Israel
- David went from being a shepherd boy to a king
- Peter and Andrew went from being fishermen to being disciples of Jesus and great evangelists and leaders of the early church
- Paul went from being a persecutor of the church to a persecuted leader of the church
- And many others…
As leaders, our job is to help people realize that Jesus is in the business of creating something incredible out of something plain. Those who can do the extraordinary with the ordinary will see great things happen. When we think of what Jesus has done for us (and what He can do with those around us), we can’t help but realize that He creates extraordinary masterpieces out of extremely simple things.
The famous quote from William Carey, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God”, reminds us that He is looking for people to join Him in this quest to do extraordinary things.
What has He done for you? What kind of extraordinary things are you expecting from Him? What incredible things are you attempting for Him?
