"The Lord called me before my birth. From within the womb he called me by my name...He said to me, `You are my servant'..." (Isaiah 49:1,3 TLB); "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13).

Before we were born God knew we were to be. Certainly God never meant for us to be accidents of a momentary passion; that is man's sin. Every life is significant to Him for He died for that life. What a pity that we are to the place where we find babies in trash bins! This verse alone should tell us how very important we are in His plans. We were called, we were named and we were claimed, even before we were born! That's a wondrous thought and an awesome responsibility. "God created [us] in his own image...male and female he created [us]" (Genesis 1:27). We didn't come swinging into this world, with no purpose for being.

He has a job for us to do that no one else can do on this earth. "Who knows but that you have come...for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14); "There came a man who was sent from God" (John 1:6). First things first: recognize the Creator and Redeemer, and then life becomes livable and likeable. Otherwise, if we don't credit God with the miracle of what and why and who we are, then the miracle is that we can live a worthwhile life at all.

We treasure independence but, in the mania to be our own person, we have turned liberty into license. It is God who has the license to grant us liberty. Our rights are based on His rights. There is a natural infrastructure in the spiritual sphere and, without a sound foundation, it all crumbles. "God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: `The Lord knows those who are his...'" (2 Timothy 2:19).