October 28, 2005

Journey long on the trail of relationship with God and you’ll quickly notice that not everyone’s feet tread the path exactly the same as yours.  We each have different personalities, different gifts, different memories and different life experiences that shape who and what we’re becoming.  Thus, your walk may look a bit different from other Believers, but, inasmuch as you’re truly pursuing God with all your heart, that’s okay:  that’s how God means it to be.

In fact, one can examine the makeup of the Christian people across the nation and around the world and rejoice, for the magnitude of the Kingdom of God is unfathomable as He not only works out a special and customized plan for each congregation that will trust Him and listen to His holy Word, but also for each individual Believer within each one of those congregations!

The Kingdom of God is mighty in length and breadth, full of a host of beloved individuals, each carefully designed and thoughtfully crafted by the hands of the Creator to bring a very special contribution to God’s creation.  Just think of how unique you are, graced with a unique combination of specialized talents, skills, opinions, and convictions!

Look and you’ll see all kinds of men and women who have hungered for more than this life can provide, and have declared their willingness and desire to set aside and sacrifice their own agendas and receive Jesus as Lord.  Look and you’ll find all sorts of boys and girls who have heard the resounding call of God to receive the gift of eternal life and have answered with a resounding “yes!” to the One Who has offered it to them.  Look and you’ll discover people of nationalities from all over the earth who have truly felt the sweet invitation of the Holy Spirit to receive salvation through faith in Christ and are now walking with Him.

Some of these are young and some are old.  Some are men and some are women.  Some are white while some are black.  Some are Native American and others are of Asian or Polynesian descent.  Some have black hair while others have brown, blond or red hair.  Some have long hair and some have short hair.  Some have no hair at all.

Some have small noses and others have big noses.  Some have freckles on their noses and some of these have freckles all over.  Some are short.  Some are tall.  Some are thin while others may be stout.  Some are athletic and some wished that they were, too.

Some worship with adoration for the Savior lavishly displayed for all to see, with hands clapping and feet stamping.  Some are so smitten with love and humility under the standard of His holy grace that they worship with their souls stilled to quiet surrender.  Some sing songs that have come down to us from long ago while others find that new songs best capture the joy and reverence of their hearts.

Inside and out, each man, woman, boy, and girl is uniquely designed to be a unique creation in the Kingdom of God.  From the tip of their toes to the tops of their heads, each one is uniquely gifted for meaningful, joyful and fruitful living in this world until called home to heaven or until He comes again.  Such design and gifting are not intended by God to be squandered selfishly upon our own ambitions or desires, tempted as we sometimes are to bring glory to ourselves instead of glory’s rightful owner:  Jesus.

So, whatever we have in our checklist of things we can do and things we have, those things were given to us to bring a new dimension to the great family of God.  If you do not receive God’s gift of salvation, then what hole is left in heaven and in the house of God because of your vacancy?  If you, though perhaps a child of God, withhold the light of His love from others in need, then what shadows remain in the world for the lack of your light?  If you were to channel all the talent or material blessings that He’s showered down upon you on making a name for yourself or accumulating wealth for your stay here on earth, in spite of all He’s done for you on the cross of Calvary, what soul remains spiritually parched, overcome by spiritual thirst with no refreshment in sight?  What spiritual lives wither and die because your gifts and talents were not there to contribute to the work of the Kingdom of God?

         God forbid that you miss out on how God would bless you with all sorts of spiritual blessings if you would only allow Him to use what you are and what you’ve been given.   And God forbid that others also miss out on hope and renewal because your life was not available for the Lord to use and bless.  You are needed and have been sent to this time and this place to “be all that you can be.”

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:23-25a NIV).

You don’t think you need to go to church to be spiritual?  Think again.  If you are not participating in the life and work of a local church family, then you are missing out on experiencing God’s great provision for countering the forces of darkness in the world and in individual lives:  the local church.

Unless you’re being integrated into a church family, you can never be as developed and refined a servant in His kingdom as you ought to be nor can you ever fully inherit all the peace that He has on reserve for you.

And every time someone else looks into the window of your life and either finds an emptiness inside or discovers the shutters of selfishness tightly shut to protect your own interests, that person’s life has been diminished, lacking in those things that God could have accomplished through you.  A little less hope than should have been there.   A little less joy than God had intended.  A little less courage, wisdom, strength, and love.

But once you begin to become involved, things begin to change.  Your gifts, talents, resources, and personality characteristics all begin to take on an eternal dimension.  And once you find yourself living in the company of other Believers, growing, learning, worshiping, and serving together, you’ll begin to catch a glimpse of how a uniquely wonderful person like you can be the very ingredient needed in a recipe of God’s making.  You yourself show the love of God and His wonderful grace in ways that could not have been realized had you not “shown up for duty.”  Therefore, as you tally what you have and what you are, always remember to, “… Guard what has been entrusted to your care” (1 Timothy 6:20 NIV).

(Thom Mollohan and his family have ministered in southern Ohio the past ten years.  He is the pastor of Pathway Community Church.   For comments or questions, he may be reached by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com).