God gave Alan the gift of teaching. God gave Jim the gift of encouragement. God gave Megan the gift of music. Those are 3 names that quickly come to my mind when I think of people who have taken what God has given them and use it for Him. I could name a lot more people…but I’m supposed to keep this at 350 words! It’s rather obvious that the “Mina” is the gift that God has given each of us…something to share, something to use as a vehicle to spread His word, to bring people closer to Him.
I’m going to be bold and say that if you, like the servant in the parable, take the gift…whatever it may be…that God has given you and hide it away, you have relationship problems with God. Something is holding you back from letting yourself go and totally trust in the Lord. The way I see it is that God knows that we’re going to have good days and bad days in our relationship with him…nobody said our walk with God would be easy. I think he wants us to understand that our “personal” issues in our relationship with Him is no excuse to not share our “mina” with the rest of the world. Have you ever felt this? I’m raising my hand, I’m not ashamed to admit it. I don’t think I need to go into how ticked off He’ll be on Judgment Day if we don’t share…I think that’s self –explanatory.
July 2nd, 2009 - 2:52 pm
Thankfor the challenge, Jon. I still remember the first Sunday that you and Brenda visited CCC. I don’t think you’ve missed a Sunday since. It has been so cool to see God work in yours and Brenda’s lives and to watch you both be baptized. We are all glad to have you a part of our family!
Thanks for sharing today!
July 2nd, 2009 - 9:38 pm
Jon:
Thank you for your words of wisdom and for keeping it real. It really touched my heart and reminded me that we all have gifts and we all have issues but God is still enough and He wants us to use what He has given to grow His Kingdom.
July 2nd, 2009 - 9:44 pm
This is from Rick Warren and it went so well with what you were saying Jon that I wanted to share with everyone. Hope this is okay.
May God Give Us Success in All We Do
by Rick Warren
“May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands” (Psalm 90:17 NIV).
God establishes the work of our hands by giving us gifts that will make a difference in the lives of others. That’s what success is—being what God meant for you to be. Jesus said, “My purpose is to give [you] a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10 NLT).
You may be thinking, “Well, Rick, what about work that needs to be done but doesn’t express my gifts; it just has to be done?” Any homemaker knows exactly what I’m talking about. I would say to you that every job, even the one you are suited for, has mundane parts. Every job has some parts to it that you won’t like, but you can still worship God through those parts of the job.
And I would suggest you adopt this attitude: “Maybe this job that I’m in right now is a phase of my life and I’m not going to be here the rest of my life. But this is where I am for now; therefore, I will worship God right now.” The apostle Paul says, “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering” (Romans 12:1 MSG).
“Lord our God, may your blessings be with us. Give us success in all we do!” (Psalm 90:17 TEV).