DOG DAYS?

Psalm 8:3-9
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, 4 what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him? 5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You made him ruler over the works of Your hands; You put everything under his feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

I hope you're sitting down for this story, because it's really weird. Last summer, news commentator Paul Harvey told his radio audience about a guy in Europe who had plastic surgery done so he could look like his dog.

Yes, this truly troubled individual got some doctors to agree to reshape his face so he would look more like his pug, Mojo. Apparently, he felt that his dog's face had some kind of character to it, and he wanted to imitate it. Good thing the man didn't have a pet iguana.

So what happened to this man after he was sculpted into dogdom? Well, first his wife decided to leave him. Then his boss fired him. But then the unkindest cut of all came when his dog, unable to recognize his master, refused to have anything to do with him.

Mr. Dogface is, in reality, not too different from most of us (well, except that none of the rest of us look like a pug). We all seem to have within us this tendency to be unhappy with ourselves. Too fat. Too thin. Not smart enough. Too brainy. Too this. Not enough that.

Seriously, though, in this era when extreme makeovers don't just mean buying a new outfit, we have been duped into thinking that we cannot be happy with who we are. We have been led to think that we have to be part fashion model and part famous actor or we are all messed up.

Maybe it's time to review. We are each made in God's image (Genesis 1:26-27). We are each formed specifically by God (Psalm 139). He has given us everything we need to serve Him (2 Peter 1:3). Jesus Himself prayed for us (John 17:20), and the Holy Spirit intercedes for us (Romans 8:26).

Go ahead. Look in the mirror. What you see is a person in process, being made by God into the individual He wants you to become. Rejoice in the good He has done and is doing in you. --Dave Branon

DESTINATION POINTS

* When I say "I don't like myself," who is the one I'm really criticizing?
* What about myself do I need to change--not cosmetically but in my inner being?

LINKS:
Self-Esteem

bottom line: I am special to the great "I AM."

soul journey