by Stephen Arterburn and Jesse Florea

Go stand in front of the mirror. What do you see? Not bad, huh? God doesn’t make mistakes. He created you exactly how He wanted. Everybody is made in His image. That means you look like God.

Do you believe everything God created is perfect? It’s true. He could’ve made humans with three heads or five legs, but He didn’t. He designed men and women, boys and girls, flawlessly. Every part of your body has a purpose—even hair. Those tiny hairs that you really can’t see in your nose and ears are especially important.

If you think about it, nose hairs have a pretty crummy job. They filter out dust and dirt so your lungs get good clean air. Nose hairs sort of keep your lungs clog-free. It’s a messy job, but somebody has to do it!

Ear hairs help you hear, and the hair on your body helps to keep you warm. Plus, a great hairstyle makes you look cool.

No matter what part of the body you can think of, God created it for a purpose and it has a job to do.

Check out 1 Corinthians 12:27
This verse says you are part of the body of Christ, His church. Everyone who believes in Jesus has a special part in His work.

I believe . . .
I am a necessary part of the church.

Sometimes it’s easy to feel like a nose hair: unnoticed, unappreciated and kind of sticky. But when you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you can be confident that you’re an important part of His body.

You might be a mouth—a kid who can bring people to Christ with your wise words. You might be His feet, traveling long distances to share God’s good news with other people in far-off lands.

Not everybody’s role is easy to notice. Your job might be to encourage other people and make sure they get their jobs done. It may not sound like much. But every job in the body of Christ is necessary—just as even a nose hair is important.

Pray
Tell God you’re going to do your job in His body with joy—whatever it is.

Race Plan
Imagine yourself standing at the starting line of a long race. You’ve trained hard and decided to run this race to the end. As you look at the runners around you, you notice you’re in pretty good company. These athletes are fit and prepared to run. You do a couple of quick stretches to make sure you’re ready. Just before the starter’s pistol goes off, the kid next to you taps your shoulder.

You look over at him and see that he’s wearing a bathrobe instead of shorts like everybody else. Not only that, he’s wearing slippers instead of running shoes!

“I’m sure glad that’s over,” he says.

Over?!? you think. It’s not over. The race hasn’t even begun!

“Are you nutty?” you ask. “Don’t you know the starter hasn’t fired the gun yet?”

“Yeah, I don’t care,” the kid replies. “I decided to show up for the race, and that’s enough for me. Boy, I’m tired. I think I’ll go back to bed.”

Just then the starter raises his hand. BANG!

You take off with the rest of the runners, leaving that kid in the dust.

He was a little confused, you think as you race to the front.

Check out Hebrews 12:1
This verse tells you a lot about what it means to be a Christian. It says to get rid of the things that hold you back from living for God, learn from the actions of other Christians around you, and never give up as you run the race for Christ.

I believe . . .
living for God is a long, exciting race.

Many people think that once they make the decision to accept Christ into their hearts that’s it. They’ve reached the end. They’ve done all they can do.

That’s kind of true. Once you have a personal relationship with Jesus, you’re guaranteed to live with Him forever in heaven.

But praying to accept Christ is not the end of your Christian life. It’s just the beginning. God has amazing plans for you. If you sit around instead of running the race, you will miss some incredible things.

	Q: What do you get when an antelope and a caribou collide? A: A cantaloupe. Jacy and Joe C., 8 and 6, North Carolina Clubhouse Jr. Click here to subscribe