James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
What does it mean to you to feel special?
For most of us I expect it is someone in our lives that makes us feel special. For others it might be some spectacular accomplishment. Not everyone gets to feel that way. Some of us never get to have that one day when we feel special.
David had Goliath. Moses parted the Red Sea. Noah built an Ark. You get the idea. Then there was Jesus and His life changing moment was dying on the Cross. It didn’t change His life, it changed the world.
Leviticus 27:1-3 English Standard Version
Laws About Vows
1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons, 3 then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.
Imagine if you would that the value of a life spent in service would add up to only fifty nickels. How special would that make you feel? That is not what I would call a “special vow”.
Allow me for a moment to share the crowning glory of my greatest achievement, my Goliath moment. That moment I did something monumentally special. I was fifteen.
My father and I were playing in the annual father and son baseball game. Dad was older then, his legs were shot, he could not run. He was playing left field and was sitting on his heels. I asked Dino Hacket to throw me a pitch face high and a little inside so that I could “Hit one to the old man.” I did that “call your shot moment” pointing in the air above my father and cried out to him “Dontcha move an inch.”
Dino delivered the perfect pitch and I hit a towering pop up fly ball to left field. As I rounded first everyone’s eyes were on my father. He wasn’t moving. His eyes look upward as the ball descends from that great height. As I approached second base he stood up without moving his feet and caught the ball. I had done it. From 250 feet away I had hit a target smaller than a fifty-five gallon drum.
As I rounded second dad threw the ball at my feet and almost hit me. I yelled out to him, “Hey what’s wrong?” He replied with a grin on his face “You made me stand up!”
And that was the greatest accomplishment in my life. My Goliath moment. Some of us don’t even get that.