“Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who made us, and not we ourselves.” Psalm 100:3

Such a simple, seemingly self-evident statement, but some people do not believe God exists, and the rest of us (me included) act sometimes as if God does not exist.

When we myopically go about our days focused on ourselves and our surroundings, good or bad, we tend to forget that we did not make ourselves. We act as if we are the be all, end all of our own lives. We act as if the moment and momentary pleasures and pursuits of our lives are more important than an eternal relationship with our Creator.

We are told that we have rights, and we have a right to demand things for ourselves. We live in a self-centered, me-focused world that is continually sending us the message that no one matters more than me.

It simply is not true.

We are not the focus of the universe. We only occupy the center of our own worlds, creating the illusion that we easily feed into that we are the center of the universe.

We are naturally self-centered. We are self-focused from the cradle and have to learn to defer ourselves to others. The same is true of our relationship to God. We do not naturally defer even to our Creator.

Deferring and submitting to others and to God is a volitional act that is essential for human and spiritual life. Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a seed.

That statement is counter intuitive. This is not our natural tendency. The desire for self-preservation, self-promotion and self-reliance is strong. Taking the opposite course is a path that is averse to the “flesh” – our natural state.

While this seems so fundamental to me, I need to be constantly reminded. If I am not vigilant, my days are all about me, from start to finish.