Using our time and our talents for The Lord

 

 

As I've mentioned before, many times I'm listening to the radio, watching TV or reading the newspaper or a book and something catches my attention that causes me to say, "hey, that would be an interesting thought for an editorial-type lesson. And, as also mentioned before, many times these items are not enough on their own to merit a "whole" editorial, but could be combined with other small items to teach several lessons in one editorial space. Today is just such a situation. Allow me to share a few little short, and I hope worthwhile, thoughts with you that I've saved up.

The first little lesson deals with how we use our time and our talents for The Lord. And, I'll tell you my inspiration for this topic came from a TV show about "big machines" on one of the Discovery channels. While watching a giant "earth moving" machine at work I was amazed at the amount of dirt that it could move at one time. This giant earth mover will serve as an illustration for our lesson and here's how I'll do it.

This machine does exactly what it's designed to do - move large amounts of dirt in one operation. The show told how much it cost to operate this machine and the point I'm making here about the cost is, that it cost just as much to move a small amount as it does to move the amount that it's capable of. Therefore, it's a waste of time and money to not use the machine to its capabilities. What's accomplished is not what it's capable of accomplishing, yet costs as much. Do you see where we're going with this?

Every one of us is endowed (designed, if you will) with some ability/s. God expects us to use those abilities to the degree that we're capable of. Some have more ability than others, some less, but the principle remains the same - do what you can. You're not required to do something that you can't do or are not capable of, but when we don't use an ability to the degree that we are able, we're just like that giant earth mover only moving a little bit of dirt. We're not accomplishing what we have the capability of accomplishing and the effort (cost) will have been wasted because we didn't do what God expects us to do with the ability/s He's given us.

Our second lesson came to me via all of the news seen and heard in the last few weeks in both the newspapers and on TV. It's pretty obvious isn't it, that there must be an election coming up in the next few months because we see a lot of "posturing" by the various politicians on all stages of politics, especially in our local area. In considering this political situation an interesting concept crept into my little brain. One that I thought interesting enough to share with you today.

"The Concept." Suppose a member of the church had to "run for office," as in, run for membership each year. IE: Run for re-election every year. Isn't that an interesting thought? Now here's the "kicker" of this concept/thought - you're "re-election" depended on what you had done for The Lord in your "last term." This, in turn, begets the question - How would you make your campaign speech? Could you safely say, "My record speaks for itself" and then trust that you have God's vote?

Interesting thought, isn't it? Especially when you realize that God is keeping our "record" on file in what He calls the "Book of Life." (Rev. 20:12)

My next thought stems from my visit to Gettysburg National Monument back in May of this year. What an awe-inspiring event. In truth, it was almost over-whelming to a person's "normal" senses. I'll use the word "normal" here to illustrate my thoughts in this lesson. Let me just first provide you with a little scene-setting. Gettysburg was a three-day battleground that is conceded by historians as being the turning point of the Civil War. A battle that encompassed an area of about 24 square miles all around and in the town with the loss of over 50,000 casualties. In my mind, if there is such a thing as "hallowed ground" on this earth, Gettysburg certainly qualifies.

Now, let me get back to "normal senses." Before we toured the actual battlefield, Carolyn & I attended the presentation in the theater in both movie form and following that, a "virtual depiction" of the entire battle as if one were standing in the very middle of it. This is a very moving and emotional experience and you could easily observe this in the behavior and demeanor of our fellow viewers. All except for one of them and she serves me as the catalyst for this thought.

As we were filing out of the theater, having just left the "virtual battle" and seeing the horror of that battle and hearing the narrator tell about the tremendous loss of life, a teenage girl walking beside me and her family said, and I quote: "This is soooo boring. I'm soooo bored." You'll be proud of me as I held back and kept my mouth shut and didn't tell her what I thought of her comments, but you can probably guess what my thoughts were at that moment.

Here's how I tie in her comments to a spiritual lesson. I think her attitude is indicative of a lot of people, not just teenagers, today. They are "bored" with religion. They want excitement. They want to be entertained. Is it any wonder that many "religious entities" today cater to that way of thinking? IE: Don't talk about boring old stuff like Jesus and His death, burial and resurrection. Don't talk about God's love and His blessings on mankind. That's just sooooo boring.

Rather, show movies, play games or have band performances with music in the arrangement of the rock/rap genre of today. Let this pass for a "worship service" and we won't be bored and God will except it. I mean, I'm here in a "church building" and not out committing crimes so God will say I'm OK. At least I'm being "religious" and best of all - I'm not bored.

I have about as much patience with that "religious" attitude as I had with the teenage girl at Gettysburg, but I AM saying something here. I don't think God looks favorably upon those who consider the sacrifice of His "only begotten Son" on the cross for the sins of mankind "boring."

Closing thought/lesson: My wife (and many others) love to mess with genealogy. To find their ancestors and everything they can learn about them. That's OK, nothing wrong with knowing who your ancestors are and where they came from, but I ran across this little saying a while back about genealogy that I'm going to give you as a closing thought for today.

"It may be satisfying to know who your ancestors were; but it's more important to know what your descendants are going to be."

I say - AMEN!

Ron Covey