Is this for me?

“For he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone.”

Psalm 103:14-16 was raised near the Rocky Mountains and have lived in the Maritimes for several years now. It’s safe to say that I have had my share of mountain hikes, beach sunsets, frigid winters, and overwhelmingly colourful autumn walks. However, each time I see a mountain, a sunrise out my apartment window, sit around the campfire with friends, or find a new trail to hike, I am still taken by a sense of awe. Often, I’ll say a quick prayer: “Thank you God for all that you have made.”

That prayer, however, is only partly correct. God is the Creator. He formed the world and He formed us. But sometimes when I thank God for what He made, I say it as though He made it for me. Just for me. I say it as though everything else that exists from the birds flying over the mountains to the fish in the sea exists for my sake—to make me happy.

IIt’s easy to forget where we came from. It’s easy to forget that God formed us from the dust and breathed life into us. As life gets busy I, for one, get caught up in all those little things that seem like big things. I have work to do, people to see, games to play, and things to buy. It’s all so constant and consuming. I quickly forget that the world is bigger than me. God made a great big world and we play a small role in it. When God made us, He made us as one small part of a much bigger world. I am reminded of this as I am dwarfed by the mountains and swallowed by the ocean. If we were formed from the dust then there is only one thing that sets us apart from the rest of creation. God breathed life into us. In the same way that we have unmerited salvation through Christ, we have unearned life through God the Creator. Everyday life has a way of hiding this fact from us. We have gone to great lengths to build cities, cars, TVs, and houses that separate us from the rest of God’s creation. What we need to remember is that we were formed from the same dust, by the same God, for the same purpose: to give Him glory.

we were formed from the same dust, by the same God, for the same purpose: to give Him glory.