See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

I John 3:1, ESV

Do we realize what kind of potential we have?

When Victor Seribreakoff was 15 years old, one of his teachers told him that he did not have what it takes to finish High School and that he should seriously consider ending his studies and going to a trade school. They did things different back in 1928 when this advice was given, so Victor dropped out of school. For 15 years Victor was little more than an itinerant worker, bouncing from job to job. When he was 32 years of age he was given an intelligence test to determine what work he might be most suited for. The people doing the testing measured his IQ at 161.

The IQ score for the average human being is 100. Genius level is measured as the top 2% of the population, or more specifically, those who have an IQ of 140 or higher. Victor Serebriakoff, the kid too dumb to finish high school, learned that he was a genius. And he began thinking different about himself, so he started acting different. He had had some ideas over the years that he decided to pursue a bit more, and he filed for and received several patents. He even wrote a number of books. He became a successful business man, and eventually became the President of Mensa, an organization with the singe membership requirement of an IQ over 140.

What changed? Was Victor any smarter at 32 than he was at 15? The answer is no. He just didn't have all the facts at his disposal, and some of the things that he accepted as fact turned out to be wrong. Due to these wrong "facts" Victor waited about 17 years to begin realizing his potential in life.

How about us? We have something far greater that a test that measures some group of people's conception of intelligence. We are children of God! Everyone of us have been created by God and have the right to be called His children if we will but recognize Him as our Father and obey His authority. The problem is that most of God's children "drop out" before they even become adults and decide, intentionally or not, to forfeit their rights as God's children. What a waste!

But those who are wise will take a different path. They will accept God's terms of remaining His child by becoming a Christian. Those who once lived as Christians but left the path can still get back on it, so for those who have been foolish enough to reject God as the Father, there is still hope. I believe there are a lot of people who have left God and just "bounced around" for more years than they care to admit, but this mistake does not have to be continued. 

When Victor Serebriakoff discovered the true facts he made a change, and so can we. Stupidity doesn't have to be permanent! We just have to recognize the truth about who we are and what we are doing here on this earth, and then make the necessary changes. Do we see the potential we have as children of God? We can do great things if we can!

I suspect that all of us at one time or another have failed to see the great potential that we have. The important thing is for us to realize what we have and start acting differently than we did when we failed to see the great blessing (and responsibility) that belong to the children of God. And that is what we are!