“What Could I Do With That?” January 23, 2011
Do you have someone you have a hard time buying a gift for? Not necessarily because they have everything but because they are never satisfied with what you get them.
Terrie is usually very appreciative of the things that I buy her, well except for the socket set, the belt sander, and the circular saw. In which case I told her I would use them just so it wasn’t a waste of money.
But seriously there are some people who have a hard time realizing a good gift.
Joke: There was a very rich man who was going to die unless he had a brain transplant. The doctors informed him they had three available brains. The first brain belonged to young Harvard graduate and it cost ten thousand dollars. The man said he could easily afford it and inquired about the second brain. The second brain belonged to a NASA scientist who was also a successful writer and accomplished musician and the cost of this brain was fifty thousand dollars. The man said he could easily afford it and inquired about the third brain. The third brain belonged to a U. S. Congressman and it had a price of one million dollars. The patient ask why this one was so expensive and the doctor said it was because it had never been used.
Some Christians are like that congressman’s brain. We have gifts that have never been used.
1 Corinthians 12:7 "To each one, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."
Notice what Paul says here, TO EACH ONE. In other words every one of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior have been given a gift for the use in furthering God’s Kingdom.
This presents two problems for some Christians.
One, they don’t realize what the gift is and second and worst of all they know but they don’t use it.
Now if you are in the category of not knowing what do you do?
You simply ask God to show you.
When you want to give someone a gift but you don’t know what to give them you simply ask, “What would you like or need?”
Trust me if you have children or grandchildren this is a very effective method.
So if you go to God in prayer and ask Him to show you, He will but we have to be open to what He tells us.
Joke: There was a man trapped in his home due to a flash flood. The water was rising quickly and he prayed that God would save him. A couple of hours later a boat pulled up to his porch but the man refused to get in saying that he had faith in God and that God would save him. As the waters rose even higher the man was forced to get on top of the roof. While sitting on the roof a helicopter appeared to rescue the man but again he refused saying that he had faith in God and that God would save him. Eventually the house was swept away and the man drowned. In heaven the man questioned God as to why He didn’t help him and God said, “I sent you a boat and a helicopter and you ignored them both.
You see if we ask God as to what gift we have we must be willing to accept it. God is not going to thump you upside the head and say here it is.
Now if you fall in the second category of having the gift and not using it you are even worse off.
Because now you have something special, and you are not using it for God’s Glory.
Romans 12:6-8
I want to call your attention to what Paul says in verse six when he uses the word prophesying. This scripture is often taken to mean that some have the gift to predict the future.
That is not correct. To prophesy as Christians simply means to tell others what is going to happen in the future according to God’s Word.
It is like the word witnessing. We witness to others about the events in the bible but that doesn’t mean we were witnesses to the events.
So Paul is telling the church at Rome to use the gift to tell others about Jesus and what is to come with faith.
Now there are those that believe they have the ability to predict the future. I have one thing to say to that. If they can why aren’t they rich? They should be able to win every lottery, bet on the winning team.
If they have this so called gift then according to God’s Word it wouldn’t be from Him. Throughout the Bible things, like, fortune telling, soothsayers, and mind readers are forbidden.
Now I will admit there are times when I can read Terrie’s mind just by the look she gives me but trust me that is no gift.
Paul says that we all have gifts and we are to use them cheerfully.
I am a true believer in the gift of talent. You can look around this room and see those that have musical talent.
Now it is still a gift from God even if you are not using it for His glory and that is where we misuse the gift.
That is where free will comes in. You can play and sing in a bar to entertain those who don’t want to hear about God or you can use it to glorify Him. The choice is ours and I know you know what God wants us to do with the gift.
Now there is also the gift we are given that we never use.
Paul say that some have the gift to serve, to teach, to encourage, to help others, to lead, to govern, and to show mercy and he says we need to use these gifts.
Illustration: Did you ever give someone a gift and never see them use it? How did you feel?
Maybe you thought you should have never given it to them in the first place.
It probably hurt your feelings.
That is how God feels when we misuse or do not use the gifts He gives us.
We need to look at our lives and see what gifts we have
We all have talent and the ability to do something for God.
We just need to ask ourselves. “What Could I Do With That?”
