Worthy is the Lamb: ENGAGING IN THE WORD

Sunday, September 18, 2016

ENGAGING IN THE WORD - By: Beaute' Naturelle

Engaging in the Word

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Your talents are to be used to serve God by serving others.
“God has given each of you a gift use it to serve others as a good steward of the diverse graces of God." (1 Peter 4:10)

God desires that we have an attitude of compassion and concern for others as well as be proactive contributors in the lives of others. The talents that he has gifted us with are not to be used for our selfish lustful desires. Jesus whole ministry was about serving others. If we are to understand the concept of true biblical fellowship, we must truly deny self-realizing that: true greatness in the Kingdom of heaven consists in using God given talents to serve others. Jesus said, "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant" (Mt. 20:26).

For many the talent or gift conversation most often points to money first, for our culture idolizes material wealth, and have turned financial giving into a form of talent. Yet, we never read anywhere that Jesus considered the giving of money a talent. Nor did he teach in any great length about materialistic giving. Matter of fact he taught that giving exceeds materialistic alms. “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom”. Many in the body of Christ have come to assume that this verse only relate to tithing and offering or in other words financial giving.

On any given Sunday, you will hear Pastors quoting this verse before or during the passing of the money plate. Yet, in my bible studies I noticed that Jesus never said,what to give, how much to give, who to give it to, or where to give. Why? Because Kingdom talents are not made up of things where moth and rust doeth corrupt or what man has made into an idol. Kingdom talents are spiritual and addresses the heart of men whose greatest need is to be loved and redeemed from sin. Kingdom talents are made up of love, time, and service and to help us understand this truth, Jesus taught us to “Love our neighbor as we love ourselves.”(Matthew 12:31) We all are pleased when others use their talents to serve us with good things for our body and soul (love, time, service) and he reminds us in like manner that love requires us to serve others in the same way we want to be served. This is what our Saviour teaches us. "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, even so do unto them."(Matthew 7:12)

Don’t get me wrong, I am not implying that serving others is only through the use of spiritual gifts. God honors both our spiritual gifts and our material giving.Jesus said the righteous who have shared material goods and who have given service to others will be honored. “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me” (Matthew 25: 25-36). “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You ….. And the King will reply, ”Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me” (Matthew 25:37-40) Jesus reveals in these passages that God is watching how we use our spiritual talents, material resources, and our time which are all gifts to be use to serve others.

How do we serve others in a way that glorifies God?

We glorify God by practicing and applying His talents to demonstrate holiness in our words, behaviors and works as we serve others. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)“He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked”(1 John 2:6). In this passage the Apostle John tells us that we are to imitate Jesus who showed us that the heart of the Christian life is achieving God’s plan to serve others. Jesus knew his time on earth was short and he retained a perfect attitude in every situation while sharing his talents, time and love to serve God’s plan to bring salvation to a lost world.

Jesus made it clear that he was first and far most a servant saying, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 13:1-17, Luke 9:56) Like Jesus, we know that our time on earth is short, ” You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”(James 4:14) Therefore, I encourage you to do like Jesus, make the most of your remaining time on earth and use your talents for the Kingdom’s purpose to redeem lost souls, built up the body of Christ and to demonstrate the godly life mandated by God.Remember, your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.

My prayer always is that we continue to grow in grace, truth, wisdom and walk in love towards one another.Help others benefit from this truth by sharing this message. God bless you.