| Subject: Do Your Job |
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Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 14:33:32 01/12/14 Sun
1 Corinthians 12:12-18 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? 18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
I have entitled this little study "Do Your Job". On and off for about a week I have been going back to these scriptures and thinking on the implications of what is being said to us. Paul had begun this chapter on spiritual gifts and and he tells us in verse 1 that he would not have us ignorant as to spiritual gifts. He mentions several and in verses 4-7 he tells us that while there are different gifts, administrations and operations in the Church they are all given to us by the Holy Spirit and it is the same "God which worketh all in all" by which these gifts and works might be accomplished. In verse 11 we have one of the salient verses in the passage. "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." What that tells us is that no matter what your gift(s) or work(s) you didn't get it on your own and you can't accomplish the task on your own. Paul then likens those who have receive gifts and or "jobs" to parts of the body. He then let's us know that he is speaking of the body as being Christ and members of the body such as eyes, ears, nose, hands, feet etc. as being the individual Christians that are placed in His body, which is the Church.
It is important for us to gain the perspective that Paul has here when we think of what work we might be doing for our Lord. Have you ever thought of a person as being "so gifted" and you wonder why you couldn't have such a gift. Maybe there are people who have a great desire to preach or teach but the door has remained closed and that person might think that they are not worth anything to the Lord.
Dejection or even jealousy might easily result if someone starts feeling sorry for themselves in this area.
Paul sensed this might be the case in Corinth and as a result reminded them that God placed them where they were and gave them instruction on what to do. Not everyone can be a mouth. Not everyone has good hearing. We don't often think of toes as being that useful in God's work but they are a very big part of the feet and without feet those chosen to carry the gospel could not have walked to the various places they needed to go. When they got there they could not have spoken without vocal chords that are seldom thought of except when a case of laryngitis has taken hold. The larynx is useless without lungs forcing air out of the body with enough force to vibrate the vocal chords. The truth of the matter is that every part of the body has a function. Without many of the invisible and unnoticed parts of the body the body would be unable to function properly. God, in His wisdom and knowledge, has designed this body to function the way he wants it to.
A lot of this I have said is to get to something that needs to be said. Chances are this is not being read by a preacher or pastor, missionary or evangelist. These are folks we look up to as being the ones God chose to carry the gospel. Do you know that you are as important to God in what He has chosen you to do as the missionary? How does the missionary go unless he is sent? How does a pastor fulfil his duties if there is no one in the pew or church to support the church? We have been in several wars lately and we all think of that fighting man on the front lines getting the job done. Where would he be without the multitude of people supporting him in his job? Someone is making his clothes and shoes. Someone is making his weapons. Someone trained him. Someone is feeding him. On and on it goes. It is the same way in the Church and God's army.
There is a lady in our Church who has recently started singing. She is in her forties and has a beautiful voice. I heard her singing in the pew several years ago and suggested she use her voice for the glory of the Lord. She said she couldn't do it as she would be scared to death and way too nervous. I suggested she was wasting a wonderful gift and she was. She finally got over her shyness and is now singing some and while she is a little nervous it does not come through in her songs. "Wasted years, oh how foolish!" She is blessing God, the Church and receiving a blessing all at the same time. How often had she thought to herself of someone else who sang and said; "I wish I had that gift". She had the gift! She just wouldn't use it.
Every Christian has received at least one gift from God. It might not be what you would ask for but it is what He desires for you in your service to Him. Why chide God for a better gift, especially if you are not using what He has given to you. Paul touched somewhat on this in 1 Corinthians 7:7; "For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that." We all greatly need to learn that in God's army we are not the generals and commanders. We are the privates and as such we need to learn we don't give the orders we obey. People don't often get to choose their jobs in the military but are expected to faithfully execute their duties they have whether they ever get a promotion or not. So it is with God's Church. We are the "privates" and any promotion will depend on how we faithfully execute the duties we have been given.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For want of a horse the rider was lost,
For want of a rider the battle was lost,
For want of a battle the war was lost.
Maybe God wants you or I to be that replacement shoe. Think about it.
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