Saturday – A Gift

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

1 Peter 4:10

You have to know that I really like things to be peaceful. I like living in a calm house with calm people. I work best with people that are soft spoken. Yes, things happen in life but receiving it calmly and with a soft voice is what I really desire. In myself and the people around me.

This is really funny because I grew up in just the opposite kind of environment. Both my parents were loud people. Loud in their volume. Loud in their actions. Loud in their relationships with family and friends.

I grew up sitting at the feet of the masters of loud. They knew how to take any and all news with aggravation and aggressiveness. There was never any doubt about what they thought about anyone or any topic.

So, why am I bringing this up? Because I’m intentionally going to say something that’s guaranteed to upset some people. Not just a little bit upset but blow-the-top-of-your-head-off upset. It will go against their assumed spiritual birthright. What God has given. What they’re owed. OK. Here we go.

Peter is telling his readers and us that we have a spiritual gift. Period. Did you notice that there’s no “s” at the end of the word gift? Yes, it’s only one. A single, solitary gift. It’s the gift that energizes and motivates us[1].

You have received a gift. This means that the sending, delivery, and receiving are finished. There’s nothing more to be done. God has already given you a gift. It came when we gave God our sin and selfish good works and received Jesus’ one-time payment for all our sins. And it’s never going to be taken away.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6

God can and will use you and your gift in many different ways. And while all the different kinds of service and working are very different and creative, we still have one gift. This doesn’t mean that God’s trying to hold back something from us. On the contrary, he has a great and marvelous plan to use us for his kingdom. For his glory. For the good of many.

Now for the big question. Why has God given us this great, big and powerful gift? It’s not to make us feel good. It’s not to fill our pockets with things and money. It’s not even to build a worldwide following and ministry. It really doesn’t have anything to do with us.

God gave you and I the gift to be serving others. We are to be presently and actively using God’s gift for to fulfill the needs of others. It’s all about them and not about us. Service is always looking outward. Never inward.

So, what is service? Yes, it’s helping people in areas where they have a gap. Yes, it’s looking at others more than looking at ourselves.  But there’s a certain way that we’re to do it. Using God’s gift inside of us will always, always, always be seen with an unexpected result.

When God’s gift is being used in us, it always kicks up some dust. Like someone running through a room where the floor is covered with dust, so our obedience to God’s gift will also kick up some dust.

Think about this for a minute. If there’s dust on the floor, then it’s someplace where there hasn’t been much activity for some time. Things have been quiet. Or you could say that things haven’t been moving for a while. Things have gotten messy over time. Not much has changed and the dust has had a chance to settle on the floor.

And how are we to serve? Like a faithful steward. Like someone who’s a loyal and reliable worker. Someone who knows what their job is and does it. They focus on doing what they’ve been given to do and do it well. They don’t give up in the middle when it gets hard or boring. They stay and do it until it’s done.

Does this remind you of anyone? When we look at ourselves, do these things pop into our heads? Do we know the gift that God has given us? How certain are you about where and how God want us to be responding to his loving through kicking up some dust with the people he wants us to serve?

It’s so easy to get distracted. Or discouraged. To delay doing anything. It’s time to use God’s gift that he’s given. Only you can use it with your personality and the people around you. No one in the history of the world can use it the same way that you can. No more sitting around, waiting for someone to come up and ask. We need to get up and look for ways to be the people of God, kicking up dust in service to the people God gas given to is to serve. It’s his gift for us to use. It’s time to start using it.

Noodling Questions

• We’re you brought up in a quiet or loud house? Explain.

• Give three examples of how has used people and their gift in your life.

• What are the major things that are stopping you from kicking up some dust?

[1] Romans 12:6-8