“Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth…” (Mark 12:14, NIV).

Last night my sister invited me to a wonderful banquet for Shepherd’s Haven, a Christ-centered ministry for adults with special needs. What a blessing it was for me. One of the blessings was to watch 50 or so of these special people spread across the stage using their hands, feet and voices to sing, “Worthy of It All.” They were often out of synch, but they were all devoted to the only One who is worthy of it all. I realized during that song that God was just as pleased with their imperfect but sincere worship as He had been with my imperfect but sincere years as a doctor in international missions for Him.

Sometimes we as healthcare professionals think too much of ourselves, even in our Christian service, and sometimes too little. We think of ourselves too much when our pride leads us to imagine ourselves more gifted or important than others. We think of ourselves too little when we forget that we, just like the disabled on that stage, are children of the King.

Billy Graham said, “The ground is level at the foot of the cross,” but it is a very high level.

God doesn’t care if I am a doctor, unless I am a doctor serving Him.

God doesn’t care if I have money, unless my money is poured out for Him and those He loves.

God doesn’t care if I am super educated or intelligent unless I focus my intellect on serving Him.

God doesn’t care if I have little to offer that the world values, if I offer my all to Him.

William Sloan Coffin said, “God’s love does not seek value, it creates value. It’s not because we have value that we are loved. It is because we are loved that we have value.”

We live in a world of comparison, each of us comparing ourselves to each other to decide how worthy we are in this life. From God’s perspective, I suspect we are like the boy who kicks over an anthill on a dirt road and watches the ants scurry along, each worried about which one is the tallest.

There is only One who is worthy of it all, and any worthiness any of us has is handed out in equal measure at the foot of the cross.

God,

Thank you for the grace that is not from ourselves, that brings us all to you.

Amen