The LORD God Our Maker

"Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. ⁴ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name."

Psalm 100:3-4

As human beings created in the image of God, through faith in Jesus Christ we can know our Maker.  Having a maker is very significant, for one who invents or creates something knows the purpose and reason for it.  The design we see in the symmetry and function of a leaf suggests strongly it has be designed, and it only can fulfill its purpose because it was the product of a designer.  When it comes to inventions of men, going to the maker provides an opportunity to hear why the invention was made, what is broken and how to fix it.

The world is filled with "self-made" men and women who live as if they do not have a Maker and do not seek God the source of abundant life.  We go about trying to improve or enhance our lives by enriching them with experiences, achievements, goals, acquiring new and better things, increasing our holdings or net worth, and seek the best the world can offer.  We can foolishly assume we decide what is best for us and what the pursuits of our life ought to be.  Because God is our Maker He is the One who has already determined the purpose of our existence fulfilled in knowledge of Him.  The psalmist describes the chosen people of Israel--which can be extended to God's children by adoption through faith in Him--as God's people and the sheep of His pasture.

God created sheep to bleat, grow wool and have a strong herding instinct.  As sheep of God's pasture He has made us to sing praises to God, to enter God's kingdom with thanksgiving, be spiritually fruitful by the Holy Spirit, and bless the LORD as we gather together in His name as one flock.  Through the Good Shepherd Jesus God has brought many sheep together from countless folds that we may be one with each other even as Jesus is one with the Father (John 17:20-21).  It is God, our Maker and heavenly Father who has given us the ability to enter His gates to praise Him, to think and consider His awesomeness so we might thank Him continually, to speak so we might bless His holy name.

How tragic it would be to use the access we have to the throne room of grace more as a "fire escape" on the back alley of a building only to be used in emergencies rather than the main thoroughfare we frequent into God's presence in prayer!  Our minds can be filled with proud, selfish and envious thoughts  and our mouths more apt to complain, criticise or slander than to think to bless the LORD at all times.  We learn to bless the LORD at all times when we begin to recognise the LORD is God who made us, not we ourselves.  It is strange we could ever forget this, yet the scripture exhorts us to remember God is our Maker.  The knowledge of our gracious God moves us to thank Him and thus fulfill our divine purpose with joy.