This devotion is a monthly ministry of the Pee Dee Baptist Association, comprised of 31 Southern Baptist churches in Dillon and Marlboro Counties.  For more information call 774-8062.
Featured this month is Rev. Rob Pierce, the pastor of Latta Baptist Church, Latta.

I turned 51 this past year. For some reason – maybe it’s just my messed-up brain matter – I’ve been contemplating life.
I have one child who recently got married and another child about to get married. Both of my children are girls so I’m finding that this wedding thing gets expensive! I’m not ready for all of this! But, ready or not, here it comes. Life.
I’ve got a few years left. I don’t know how many. I’m 51 – I might live to 71 or 81. So, what am I going to do with my life for the next few years until I leave this earth?
It really doesn’t matter what your age is. You need to ask yourself the same question. What am I going to do with the rest of my life?
When you read the bible and when you read Bible stories, what’s the purpose of each story? I want you to understand that each story in the Bible is there for a purpose:  to see the rule and expansion of God’s Kingdom over all the earth. Every story you read, every event that took place, and every personality you encounter in the Bible are there to bring it all together for God’s purposes to be accomplished, to see His Kingdom grow!
If you are a Christian, you are a child of the King. You are a part of the family, and you are a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Now, if you are a citizen of the United States, you have certain rights and certain responsibilities. As a citizen of the Kingdom of God, you have certain rights and benefits, and you have certain responsibilities! If you are a citizen of the Kingdom of God, then you need to understand what the Kingdom is, how that impacts your life, and how you are going to spend the rest of your life.
Apart from the Kingdom of God and His purposes for your life, your life events (your story) and experiences remain separate and have no real meaning. But if you are a citizen of the Kingdom of God, then your life events come together for the purpose of growing you into the disciple He wants you to be so that His Kingdom will grow and expand.
Here is what the Bible says about what God did when He made you:
Psalm 139:13-14 NLT
You made all the delicate inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
[14] Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous – and how well I know it.
So, why were you created and why are you going through what you are going through today? If you are a child of the King, why did God save you and change you? If you haven’t surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, and you have questions about your own destiny, then where do you turn?
Ephesians 2:1-10
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, [2] in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. [3] Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. [4] But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), [6] and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, [7] in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; [9] not as a result of works, that no one should boast. [10] For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Now, there is a lot in this passage. The fact that you once walked away from God in your life and He made you alive is awesome! You didn’t do it – HE did!
Then look at verse 4: BUT GOD! WOW! BUT GOD changed you! Now that is something to celebrate! He is rich in mercy (not giving us what we deserve). Because of His great love, by His grace (giving us what we don’t deserve) we have been saved!
Then look at verse 10: we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. When Paul wrote that word workmanship, he used the Greek word poima. It’s where we get our English word poem, and it literally means masterpiece. Grasp that for a moment. You are God’s masterpiece.
When Paul is writing this, he is telling believers everywhere that you are God’s masterpiece. You are one of a kind. He created you, he shaped you, gave you life, and He intentionally created you for His purposes to be accomplished in your life.
Your life story is still being written. You are a masterpiece. You are unique. You are special. You are loved. God created you, and He cares about you. He has a plan and purpose for your life. Do you care about Him? Have you surrendered your life to Him? Have you decide to love Him back for loving you first?
If you decide to follow and obey the Lord Jesus, you must acknowledge that He is God and you are not. Acknowledge that He is in control and that He is Lord of all. Recognize that God made you for a great purpose and surrender control of your life to Him by repentance. That means you turn away from the sin in your life and turn to Jesus. It means you are not only sorry for your sin, but you want to get as far away from it as possible. You surrender all.
Here is what Jesus said:
John 14:6  Jesus said to him, “ I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
He is the only way. When you surrender all to Him, then tell somebody!
Romans 10:9-10  If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; [10] for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Tell somebody Jesus is Lord. Tell somebody that they are His masterpiece.
There is hope. There is comfort. There is joy and peace that you’ve never experienced before, and all you have to do is to obey God by surrendering your life to Him today. After all, He made you and gave you life.
You are His masterpiece!