Giving Our Best to the Lord
If we have not yet looked at the calendar, then stepping outside our Kentucky homes will remind us quickly, for the blast of humidity will remind us of the month of July we are enduring. I imagine each one of us has in fact peeked at our calendars and realized that we are sitting in the seventh month of the year. During July, we exercise early, trying to beat the heat; we garden early, attempting to get ahead of the sunshine that is sure to come; and we watch our grass grow, seeing it shoot up, in what seems thirty seconds after we mowed our yards. When my maternal grandparents were alive, they used to speak about how they could sit on their Indiana front porch enjoying the evening’s rest and almost hear the corn grow during the month of July.
To a church family, not only does July bring heat and growth to our gardens, fields, and lawns, but this is the season of the new church year. With August on the horizon, we enter the time when individuals can make decisions: choosing to continue in their current church positions, to serve another year, as well as choosing to step out, volunteering to serve in new positions.
Yes, in the life of a church, this is an exciting time.
As a child, I fully remember this season because it often meant students were moving to a new Sunday School classroom. As with all other changes, sometimes this brought fright to our hearts, for the coming change brought the unknown, but it also brought excitement, bringing something new and fresh.
Is that not also the same when someone chooses to receive Christ as his Savior. At that moment, a person is changed—completely—from the inside out, and as he is changed, then the person is empowered by the indwelling of the Lord’s Holy Spirit. Excitedly, with this indwelling comes the potential to grow. The Bible speaks of this, telling us how there are various gifts of the spirit, with each one capable of producing growth within each believer. Inside a child of God, the Lord places a “newness,” one that compels them to serve and grow. In the Word of God, there are passages that provide the gifts of the Spirit and address this growth. The apostle Paul wrote about our response to that which we have received.
“Let a man regard us in this manner,
(The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 4: 1-2 NASB)
as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.”
As a born-again child of God, the Spirit gives us gifts to match our abilities. The Father knows exactly and intimately where we can best serve. In this season of July, the church nominating committee works to fill the positions, committees, and classrooms, seeking individuals to serve. It is the Holy Spirt who places a desire to serve in us and Who then leads us to accept opportunities to serve Him.
Yes, this most definitely is an exciting time in the life of the church, as many individuals volunteer for new ways to serve the Lord at their local church.
One way to grow in our faith is to realize we are to “grow” in the Lord, understanding how God expects us to have faith to step forward, accepting the positions offered. Even if we fill ill-equipped, the Lord promises to go with us, to help us and equip us as we go. As we are faithful, additional opportunities to “grow in Christ” will come.
Truly, it is a beautiful concept to “grow in the Lord.”
As my grandparents used to speak about how they could sit during a summer evening and hear the corn grow in the field, seeing it “almost” grow overnight, the same remains true for a believer with a willing spirit. As a person is open to “growth,” to accepting new opportunities to serve in the church, then the family of God can see these individuals “almost” grow right before their eyes.
It is an amazing concept to watch—to see a child of God “grow in Christ.”
We are not all gifted by the Holy Spirit with the same gifts; however, we can ALL be faithful in our work, in our serving. ALL believers can bring glory to God. Jesus Himself affirmed this through a parable, one that speaks of the dangers of not growing, of choosing to bury that which the Master has given.
“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey,
(The Gospel According to Matthew 25: 14-15 NASB)
who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them.
To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one,
each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.”
Fast forward as the parable continues, seeing two of his slaves immediately grow his master’s “talent,” and seeing one slave trapped in his fear and burying his master’s “talent” in the ground. Time passes, the master returns, and the slaves are held accountable for what they have done with their master’s “talents” gifted to them. The master is pleased with the slaves who received five and two talents and even gifts these slaves with more. Then, we come to the verses that record the master’s reaction to the slave who feared and chose to bury his talent.
“And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said,
(The Gospel According to Matthew 25: 24-29 NASB)
‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man,
reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.
And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground.
See, you have what is yours.’
But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.
Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.
Therefore take away the talent from him,
and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’
“for to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.”
When the Lord returns, the issue will not be which gifts (“talents”) we have received, but whether we were faithful to use our abilities and the opportunities given to please and honor God.
- Let us remember that with responsibility comes accountability to God. &
- Let us be faithful to give our best to the Lord.