Today's Devotional

 

October 15 , 2007

                                                                                  

Subject:   That's Not Your Gift 

1 Corinthians 12:18 - "But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him."

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We hosted a Junior ROTC drill meet at my high school this weekend for all of the high schools in our district.  One of the best events to watch was a relay race between the schools.  The race consisted of 8 people, 4 males and 4 females, running various lengths of the track from 100 meters to 400 meters.  We had a really talented team of runners so we though we should win the event.  By the time the 7th person started running, we were about 70 meters ahead of the second place team.  That's when we realized we had a problem.  Our 7th runner, a female, was trying her hardest to maintain the lead, but she simply didn't have it.  Running was not her strong suit, but it was too late now to realize that.  

This often happens in the church or in life period.  Many people do things that are outside of their real abilities.  They do them because others are doing these things or simply because they "like" to do certain things without regard to how well they are able to do them.  Those are not really good reasons for doing anything and if it hurts "the team" then that can be painful.

Our team finished second in the race and it was obvious why.  While many consoled the tired and worn cadet for her efforts, many others let her know that she was responsible for the team loss.  One person telling her that "running is not your gift."

Today we need to understand that God has given us all talents and treasures, but we shouldn't look around at others to see what they are.  We need to seek Him and see how what we're doing profits the body (the team).   That's how we'll know we're using our gift, because God didn't give us the gift for us to feel good about our gift.  He gave it to us so that we could finish successfully as a team.   

Carlen