by John Grant
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“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised thing and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are. 1 Corinthians 1:26-27
There is a book I probably would not have read unless asked, but when both my daughter and my wife asked me to read it, I did and it profoundly impacted my life.
A Same Kind of Different as Me, is the story of a modern day slave from the bayou country of Louisiana and a rich international art dealer from Dallas and the unlikely woman who bound them together. It’s a book that tells the unlikely story of the unlikeliest of friends—Ron Hall and Denver Moore.
Ron Hall is a wealthy international art dealer who travels the world buying and selling rare and expensive works of art. He has grown rich but also selfish and drawn away from his family. Denver grew up as a sharecropper in Louisiana. Living a life that seemed little different from the life of his slave ancestors.
They become fast friends who endure a tragedy together and who soon grow in their love, respect and admiration of each other. Each man teaches the other about life and faith. Somehow the story of the relationship between these two men is fascinating and inspiring. It offers a glimpse into two worlds that are nearly opposite and shows what happens when these worlds come into contact with each other.
Paul writing to the church at Corinth noted that God usually doesn’t call people who are great by human standards and it was President Lincoln who said that God surely must have loved the common man because he made so many of us.
Together, Lincoln and Paul remind us of a biblical reality when it comes to God. He is not interested in where you came from or how common you might appear to others. God can take care of the common and turn it to His purposes so that He will be revealed through us.
God loves to shower His purposes on those who appear ordinary and cause them to become extraordinary. He always has, right from the beginning. Throughout the Bible, it was not the social and political elite that God called, but average citizens, like most of us… like Joe the Plumber of recent fame. God doesn’t call the equipped. He equips the called.
The point of the story is that no matter who we are or where we come from, God makes us basically the same and we don’t have to be wealthy or well educated for God to use us. We just have to surrender. Read the book. It will change your life!Â
(a thought on life from John Grant)
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http://thoughtsaboutgod.com/blog/2008/12/08/jg_different/