We label a person who’s made their own success a self-made man. This is especially true if the person (maybe it’s you or me) started life without money, education or high social status. Recent surveys of people with a net worth of at least one million dollars in the US reveal that most consider themselves self-made. These folks did not inherit wealth or win the lottery, but worked and saved and skimped and invested wisely.

However, the psalmist reminds us that no matter how low we started, no one is truly self-made:

Know that the Lord is God. It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

None of us fashion ourselves from the dust. The Lord knit us together in our mother’s womb. Our lives proceed at his pleasure. All good things we possess come from his hand, including our ability to work hard, delay gratification and build wealth.

Does God approve of self-made men and women? The Scriptures certainly promote hard work and prosperity. But as we prosper, we’re encouraged to share with others and bless our fellow citizens on this earth. In the midst of our success we’re to acknowledge the Lord as God. We’re his sheep, grazing in pastures of his making.

It’s good for me to remember that God is the sculptor, and I’m merely the stone on which he pounds.

Psalm 100 in Through the Bible in 2024

A good novel foreshadows things to come. The hero might meet a minor character early on who turns out to be the key to success in the end. Great authors weave important themes into their stories, starting with hints that lead to unseen results.

The Bible follows this concept as well. In the book of Job, considered by many to be the first section of the Scriptures put on paper (or papyrus), the main character foreshadows the theme of the Bible. As Job struggled with pain and suffering, he shared his feelings of estrangement from God:

He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court. If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together, someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

If only there was someone to mediate between us. Sound familiar? Job needed a liaison to help him communicate with God. Not quite the savior we find in Jesus, but the groundwork is laid. From the very beginning, just a few lines into the text, a man recognizes his alienation from God and calls for someone to bring us together.

You and I know where this foreshadowing leads. We don’t have to suffer like Job. The one who removed the rod from our backs, the Great Emancipator, the intercessor who allows us to speak to God without fear has been revealed. In a few days we will celebrate his birth. Today we call on Jesus, the mediator Job longed for.

Job 9 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Nick Fewings

I’m super grateful for whoever invented my favorite kitchen gadget—the air fryer. I reheated some leftover egg rolls the other day, and they crunched as if freshly delivered to my table. Of all the creators and developers who design products for our world, those air-fryer folks deserve a medal (and maybe even a Nobel prize).

Every bit of humankind’s creativity emerges through the hands of our Lord. The Apostle John wrote these lines of praise:

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.

God made everything. On top of that, all we see around us, ourselves included, continues to exist because He allows it to be so. The Lord’s pleasure is the only reason we don’t explode into a billion molecules and disperse throughout the universe.

I take for granted modern conveniences I enjoy in areas like medicine, travel, and housing, developed by innovative people designed in the image of God. From his generous and sustaining hand I enjoy all good things, including hot and crispy egg rolls given a second life through the magic of my air fryer.

Revelation 4 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Diego PH

Thank you for reading and pondering my thoughts throughout this year. While I enjoy writing, blogging is only a small part of what I do on a daily basis.

In March I will travel to Italy for a set of outreaches featuring American professors, then in June my wife and I will lead a group on the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain.

Last summer I finished a Doctor of Ministry degree, studying how to equip professors to tell their personal stories of faith in light of their academic discipline. I’ve now led several workshops along these lines, training dozens of professors.

Another hat I wear is that of a fund-raiser. As a Cru staff member I develop all the funds needed to cover our salary, health care, retirement benefits and ministry expenses— everything. A wonderful team of people undergirds our work. If you’d like to join them by making a contribution, you can do so at give.cru.org.

Thank you for your readership, and please stay in touch. I look forward sharing more as I travel through the Bible once again in 2025.

Dave

Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel