Let's face it...receiving blessings from those who hold positions of authority is cool! We feel special and like we are significant. Nothing can encourage us more to keep on keeping on. Paul knew this first hand in that he studied at the feet of the best of his day. He was looked up to and followed by many early on in hopes of being seen as "somebody".
Paul's candidness often makes me chuckle. He is so honest about how trival position is! Look at how he describes his contact with some of the Jews. "And from those who seemed to be influential...those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me." (ESV Galatians 2:6)
I laughed to myself because Paul hit it on the head. Those individuals "seemed influential", and, they added no sense of importance or significance to his existence. Paul refused to look to them for validation or worth. He knew and believed his worth was rooted in the work Christ did on the cross for him and the grace made available daily.
Every time we look to others for favor or some sense of acknowledgment we run the risk of being hurt and disappointed. This is so because they are human and fail us just as we do. Having looked to others for signals myself, the disappointment has been huge. In the same light, the disappointment brings us to our knees, face to face with the only one who can really give us a sense of significance and worth.
Is it nice to receive acknowledgment from someone who seems influential? Yes! Does it add anything to our life that God has not already provided? No...Wrapping my heart and mind around this truth will free you to bless and minister even the least of those you have contact with. In God's hands, we are already favored and entitled...live freely in the presence of this truth.
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