The Best

I have a nasty confession to make. I will be the bold one and make it here, but I'm guessing that some of you are guilty of this, too.

I want to be the best.

I am interested in many things, and I am good, even great, at a few things. But I am not satisfied merely with interest and accomplishment. I want to be THE best. Sometimes I get pretty persnickety when I hear of or experience somebody that outpaces me in my choice accomplishments.

Examples:
I am pretty funny. But I know at least three people that are way funnier than me, and I curse those upstarts for their witty vocabulary and quick comedic timing.

I make wicked good cookies. One of the guys at my husband's poker games makes cookies that put mine to shame.(yep, that's right. A guy.) Folks are always begging him to make his blasted cookies, while mine are pitifully passed over.

I am a pretty good teacher, and am very enthusiastic about my subject. (sometimes too enthusiastic...) Most of my students like me just fine. But I have at least two co-workers that are the All-Stars of my school, whom the students adore and think are the coolest ever. I will never be as revered as those teachers.

I read lots of books, most of them "good" books, and very little junk (especially if you overlook my "Twilight" phase). I went to a friend's house last week and her "bathroom book" was A Movable Feast. Hemingway! In the bathroom! How can I compete with that?

You can see where all of this is going.

For one thing, we are not meant to be the best. According to The Best, Jesus, we are to be the worst:

Matthew 20:16- "And the last will be first, and the first will be last."

Which means something along the lines of, "if I spend my life trying to be the best baker/teacher/comedian without actually trying to bless people, I will find myself without much of a home in heaven."

That's pretty clear, and I can take that Holy-Spirit-Sucker-Punch-of-Humility, because Jesus says so.

However, Jesus makes this even more bearable by telling us how special we are. For the biggest Godly-Confidence-Boost of all time, check out Psalm 139:

"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you."

To recap: He knew me before I was made. He created me for His special purpose (that's Ephesians 2:10), he thinks about me so much it's beyond comprehension, my whole life has been perfectly ordained by Him.

So there's comforting knowledge in this: He HAS created me to be the best at His own purpose for me, whatever that may be. I just hope it's the cookies.