Dead Ringers 

April 7^th 2024 (Week 64)
 
Matthew 10: 29-31 & Psalm 139: 13-16
 
Our eldest grandson, Zac, is thirteen. He lives close by, and we see him often. Now that he is old enough to make his way to different places on the “stunt” scooter that appears glued to his feet he frequently turns up at our house unannounced. I obviously know him very well. So imagine my surprise when, as I`m stuck in traffic at a local roundabout I spot him at the side of the road, helmeted and with his scooter, alongside another boy with a bicycle. That`s Zac, I say to myself whilst pressing the horn of the car to attract his attention. He looks directly at me and turns away as the traffic begins to move off and I have to follow suit. I immediately call his dad to ask where Zac is only to be told he is six or seven miles away in Cleveleys and that it was a case of mistaken identity!
 
It is often said that we all have a double, that there is someone out there who looks exactly like we do. A dead ringer. We have all probably seen someone, somewhere and thought they looked like someone we know but couldn`t quite place them.
 
In my younger days I was often mistaken for the (then) high profile entertainer Jimmy Tarbuck. Strangers would often stop me in the street thinking I was the famous comedian. I was also fortunate to be on stage with the star at the ABC Theatre in Blackpool in 1970/71. I was about fourteen at the time and won a competition that he led in front of a packed house. Along with a prize, the nature of which I don`t recall, and with my mum and dad watching in the audience, “Tarby” promised to buy me a pint after the show.
 
None of us are identical. Not even identical twins are fully alike. We are all unique because that`s the way God made us and wants us because He has a unique plan for each of our lives. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God (alone) knows the plans He has for us and being the planner God is, that’s a specific, unique plan for each one of us.
 
God created every part of us and has allotted the number of our days (Ps 139). Isaiah tells us (64:8) that God moulded us like a potter gently moulding clay, His hands forming us into what He wanted us to be. Unique, as every pot that comes off the potter’s wheel is unique.
 
There is no-one else like you or me. There may be those with some resemblance but there are no dead ringers. As the Psalmist said, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful….”. In other words, you are perfect and uniquely made for a specific plan that God has already written for you. No-one can copy it and only you have been created and gifted to accomplish it.
 
What are you waiting for?
 
And btw, Tarby still owes me that pint!
 
Prayer:  Father, thank you for making each one of us unique. Thank you that have already have a unique plan for each of our lives. Please help us to follow you into that good, perfect, pleasing plan that you have for use and help us to remember that you have already given us a certain number of days in which to complete it.