Less than the least

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; - Ephesians 3.8

When most of us think of Paul we think of the greatest Christian, or at least the great missionary who ever lived. He was converted from a violent and virulent and vicious hater of The Way obsessed with their destruction spewing out venom and hatred and trying to arrest and kill ant Christian he could find into a man with a bold passion to preach the gospel. He went to Antioch to seek out believers and ended up preaching the gospel in the very synagogue where he was to to find them.

He wrote most of the the New Testament. He started churches all over Asia Minor and the Middle East and even travelled to Europe with the gospel. His credentials certainly would put him on the list The Missionary of the Millennia.

How though, did Paul see Himself?

The chiefest of sinners

Less than the least of all the apostles

Paul never really got over what he had done to God’s people. We laid the past aside but it was always there niggling at Him. He was amazed that God could use him. He had no room for pride – he knew that only God made him worthy to serve Him.

There is no room for pride today. We are blessed that God counted us worthy of doing His work. His work – to preach the unspeakable riches of Christ to those around us.

Sadly most us take that grace lightly, kind of like we take the grace of giving. God can use any one us – even the less than the least – to serve Him.