We have been given “gifts” in proportion to the grace given us by God.
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them. Romans 12:6
But being given a gift is not the same as actually using a gift.
Jesus Christ died to save us from our sins. Because of His sacrifice, we will spend eternity in heaven. That’s a “not yet” kind of thing. That will happen in the future. We will go to heaven “some day.”
But in John 10:10 Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
That is both a “now” and a “not yet” kind of thing.
To live an abundant life, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to give us gifts. Gifts that are meant to be used.
But we if don’t use what we have been given, it is like waiting in an airport during a snowstorm. We have tickets to a tropical paradise, but paradise is delayed.
Now, I like waiting in an airport, at least for a little while. You can explore the shops, some unique to airports. There’s different kinds of food places, usually unique to the location of the airport. There’s usually a book store – one of my favorite places on earth.
So think about it. You can eat food you normally wouldn’t have opportunity to eat. You can read about exotic lands or epic adventures. All while you wait for your time in paradise to begin.
But it gets old and stale after a while, especially the longer you wait. There eventually comes the time when you get tired of waiting and want that tropical paradise vacation to begin.
This is what our lives are like if we don’t use the spiritual gifts we have been given. Instead, we just wait around for heaven to start. And as wonderful as heaven is going to be, there will inevitable come a time in this life that we’re going to ask the question that author T.S. Eliot once pondered, “Where is the life we have lost in living?”
We will have the abundant life that Jesus came to bring us as we use the gifts we have been given. So identify those gifts. Explore those gifts. Use those gifts.
© True Men Ministries 2010
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