WATCHWORD:
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Ephesians 4:7
But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 1 Corinthians 12:7
For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? 1 Corinthians 4:7
The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. James 1:17
Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you 1 Timothy 4:1
Meditation:
Think about that and about the gifts or talents given to each of us. Every person has the task of releasing angels by shaping and transfiguring all those raw materials that lie within into our life, artistic works, careers, etc. We chip, and scratch, and file away at our raw material to discover our gifts, and the transformational process begins.
Beneath this shell of hard-headedness, stubbornness, self-importance, low self-esteem, etc., waits the angel of our worth. Because our gifts carry us into the world and makes us participants in life, the uncovering of them is one of the most important tasks confronting any one of us. When we talk about being ourselves — being the person we are intended by God to be — we are talking about gifts. We cannot be ourselves unless we are true to the gifts and graces that flow to us from His hands.
It makes no difference where our gifts are intended to lead us; as a parent, a laborer, a medical professional, an artist, we cannot talk about vocation without speaking of gifts. When we speak about the gifts, we must also consider God’s purpose. Why would He lead me, and equip me, as He has, for His purpose, and yet I still lack direction?
Are we thinking that our lives are just ordinary, nothing special? How can that be. Why would God create me with these gifts, to just be ordinary, nothing special? Is that what His angels look like? Oh, Hum? No!
A good share of my recent life was lived believing that God created me, that God is in charge, that God loves me, and that God has a plan for my life, even at my age. Okay, isn’t that grand? But, wait, while I believe these things, there is, so to speak, a voice inside me that urges caution. That voice seems to be saying, you may be God’s perfect child, but that’s not a view held by everyone here in this real world. Downer! I must have other work to do.
Early in the ‘born again’ time of my life, I counseled with Dr. Jerry Kirk, my pastor, in Cincinnati. I spoke with enthusiasm about my sparkling new Christian walk, and how I marveled at being a preacher’s kid and yet hadn’t really known Christ.
In the course of that conversation he asked me to consider taking on a particular task within the church. I back-peddled as fast as I could, saying I didn’t think I was gifted to accept it. Our conversation continued until Jerry charged me to pray about the possibility that I was seeing God’s gifts with limitations, and let God sort it out. I did, and later I accepted the task offered. Too often we see our spiritual gifts and talents through a kind of secular haze, where we don’t see clearly, until, through prayer, we do.
The Gifts come to us through the love that God has for us, it is not our place to qualify the gifts, or the challenges that God places on our hearts. To say that a gift or grace that God has given us is not up to the task, borders on sin. In Mark 9, the father of a demon-possessed child says to Jesus: “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.”
How about that angel of your worth? Over our lives, the angel of our worth has emerged; our talent, our character, our compassion, our gentleness, and we are on the way to becoming the one that God intended us to be, Spirit led. What more can we say? Thank you, Jesus, my Lord and Savior. Amen.
A Morning Prayer:
Almighty God, you fill all things with your presence. In your great love, keep us near you this day. Grant that in all our ways and doings we may remember that you see us, and grant us the grace to ease through rough patches life brings. May we always know what things you would have us do, and give us strength to do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
