God Chooses to Need a Body

I've been thinking about the people that God uses. In the Old Testament we see Moses, who by his own admission was not worthy. And yet God said to Moses that he would be 'like God' to Pharaoh. We also see David, the 'man after God's own heart,' but David had his share of screw ups and regrets and returning to God. We see Noah, who's post-flood doesn't exactly fit that of a fine, upstanding man...

If we look at the advent story we see that God chose to use Mary to be the mother of Jesus - a young girl to mother the son of God. We see Joseph. A carpenter called to be the earthly father to the Son of God. Shepherds called to be the first ones on the scene.

Three decades later: Jesus calls fisherman. Jesus spreads his message through a Samaritan woman who had (up until the moment she encountered Jesus) lived a very sketchy life. Jesus used a tax collector (Matthew), a former prostitute (Mary), a former killer of Christians (Paul).

And there are many other examples. When I look at all the examples it makes me see that I fit pretty well into the crew. I fit right in as one who is flawed, who hasn't always been the person I wish I were, who continues to mess up and who spends a lot of time feeling like I'm not up to the task. And yet, Jesus uses us to be his body.

So, these thoughts lead me to questions about the body. How can we, New Hope, become the healthiest body possible? How do we better spur one another along toward good deeds? What does it mean to truly love one another to the point of laying our lives down for one another? What are the things we need to do within the body to show the world that Jesus is the one who makes all the difference in the world?