Nice Guys Finish First?!?!

Recently I have been striving to become a better person and to become closer to God and I am just blowing opportunities left and right. It seems no matter how hard I try I get beat down by persecution and temptation. I should be ready, it comes with the territory. Peter warned us…"8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." After a week of Satan's barrage I was ready to throw in the towel. Who cares anyway nice guys finish last anyways.

Wrong!

Throughout the bible it tells us that we need to become the "least" here on earth to become the greatest in heaven.

Wait, what? To be the greatest we have to become the least? That does not make any sense.
Think about it for a second. God has always used the little guy, the underdog, the unthinkable and the nice guy to do his work. Noah, Abraham, Jacob and Joshua all fit that bill. Moses, the leader of the early church and the guy who wrote the first five books of the bible and then some, was afraid that pharaoh would not listen to him. David was a sheep herder and he destroyed a 9 foot tall giant. Mary was a peasant girl who gave birth to the redeemer of the world!

Let's not forget about Jesus though. Yes Jesus was fully God but we often forget he was also fully human. He started his three year ministry when he was 30 years old. What did he do before that? He was a carpenter. He did not study the word with a priest; he was not given a "cushy" job to do before he had to save us. No he was down in the dirt on his hands and knees as carpenter, working with his hands. It is kind of like when you see a politician campaign and it says "vote for so and so he is a man's man," except Jesus actually is.

"For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest."—Luke 9:48

I know there is hope for me and you and everyone else in this world.

Do not be afraid to be the nice guy.