Last night I had the express privilege of speaking in the evening devotions time in the men’s dorm at the Word of Life Bible Institute, Canada Campus. It was a windy, blustery winter night but the fellowship with those guys was warm and welcoming.
Photo courtesy of: dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
My topic in the brief time we had together was “Making The Best Use of What We Have.” It’s one that I’ve been developing for several years now in various speaking roles. I first shared it at a leaders retreat four years ago but it is fresh and exciting to me every time I review it.
It’s based on Exodus 4:1-2 from the Bible and in the passage, the great leader Moses is in process of becoming just that: a great leader. At this point in his life, Moses feels that he is just not equipped nor ready to lead a vast group of people the way God wants him to. But then God asks him a question that changes the course of the discussion — and history itself: “What is that in thine hand?”
The answer, of course, is his shepherd’s rod and it goes on to be used in several different representations of God’s power, authority and ability, the premise being that God used an ordinary, everyday, common item to represent his potency and might over and over again. Not many of us will be another Moody or Moses; not many of us will have the platform of a New York Times best-seller or speak to thousands of people at a time. But, all of us have the ability to use whatever ordinary, everyday, common item we have at our disposal to better our own life and the lives of those around us by discovering the Word of God and investing in the souls of men, the only two things that are eternal.
Perhaps I’ll share in a future post the eight elements involved here but I really want to zero in right now on the conclusion of my thoughts with the guys last night. I finished our time together with a quote from STAND: Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakeable Faith, by Alex McFarland, pg 116 [affiliate link]. This is the best illustration I’ve ever read of making the best use of what we have:
“The Lord has given each of us time, talents, treasure, and testimony. We have the privilege (and, really, the obligation) to invest these resources into things that will bring good to people and glory to God. By remembering that all we have and are comes from the Lord, we will be compelled to offer it back to Him in sacrifice. In his autobiography, Be My Guest, Conrad Hilton observed that a bar of iron (in his day) was worth five dollars. If that same bar of iron was made into horseshoes, it would be worth $10.80. If that same quantity of iron was made into sewing needles, the resulting product would be worth $3,200. If that same amount of iron was made into mainsprings for wristwatches, the result would have a value of $250,000. This illustration shows that the final value is determined by what you do with what you’re given. As Christians we have been given different abilities and gifts; what we ultimately become is determined not by what we have but by how we use what we have.”
Bottom line: Will you remain unchanged by this quote or will you allow it to soak in and help you make some positive changes? Leave your comments and/or share this with the buttons below.