Give All to God

When driving yesterday I saw a bumper sticker which read, "Yes, this is my truck. No, I will not help you move."  Everyone who has owned a truck or ute knows well the high demand of friends and acquaintances to use it!  I once had a friend who was so tired of people asking to borrow his truck to help them move that he bought a fiberglass cover for the bed!  The usefulness and practicality of moving greatly reduced, he rarely had to deal with requests.  When he wanted to move something, it was no trouble for the top to be removed again!  Most people don't buy a truck hoping every weekend someone will borrow and load it with sand, bricks, or furniture.  The bumper sticker emphasizes the perspective that my things are for me, not for you.

This is the common philosophy of the world:  my things are mine.  In the Russian fable of the Little Red Hen, she planted, watered, tended, harvested, threshed, milled, and used the wheat to make flour into bread that only she ate because only she had worked on it.  My grain, my bread.  But the Christian perspective is to be completely different.  We are called to recognize that all things we have - even our own lives - are not our own but a gift from God to be willingly, joyfully, given back to Him.  Did the little red hen create the earth, provide the sun, and engineer the water to cause her wheat to grow?  Did she give herself life?  Did the ability to work originate in herself?  Was she instrumental in the creation of the wheat to cause it to bear seed so it might produce more wheat?  All along God provided and created the means for bread to be baked to satisfy her hunger.  Your life is a gift from God not to be used for yourself, but for the glory of God.

When God gives you a gift or talent, it is not primarily for you.  God did not gift me to write and teach so I could become a famous millionaire:  He has gifted me so others will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ to the glory of God.  We Christians are to make God's name famous!  He has given me life and a certain amount of time on this earth not for me, but for Him to work in and through me for His glory.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 reads, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."  Our ability to see, hear, speak, think, work, and do is intended by God to be used with Him and others in mind.

Has God granted you spiritual gifts?  See that you use them faithfully for the glorification of God and the edification of the Body of Christ, the church.  Has God committed time, finances, talents, and abilities to your trust?  These were never intended to bolster your self-esteem or give you confidence in yourself, but that you might commit them completely to the use of your Heavenly Father.  Instead of using your talents to draw attention to yourself, all talents are to be invested to bring glory to God.  If God has given you a truck, be open to helping people move.  If God has given you skill in fixing computers, baking, cleaning, writing, singing, running, tutoring, being a good listener or anything else, commit what you have into the hands of Jesus for Him to use.  It may cost you a little petrol or a scratch here or there, but using what you have to glorify God is better than hiding it in a garage and only gathering dust!  What good will a shiny ute be on the Day of Judgment?

Can you imagine if Jesus had the philosophy of the Little Red Hen?  "I planted the seed, I cut the corn, I took it to the mill to be made into flour, and I made the bread, all by myself. I shall now eat the loaf all by myself."  The pig, the duck and the cat all stood and watched as the little red hen ate the loaf all by herself. It was delicious and she enjoyed it, right to the very last crumb."  Jesus is the Bread of Life.  He could have kept Himself all to Himself.  He could have denied us because of our sin, faithlessness, and open rebellion against God.  Instead, Jesus operated in love and grace.  He is not willing that any should perish, and takes no pleasure in those who are starving in soul and heading for eternal destruction because of sin.  Jesus did nothing of Himself (John 8:28), but acted and spoke according to the will of the Father.  If Jesus should so willingly give His life for us sinners, shouldn't we freely give ourselves for His use?

Commit your life to God today.  God has given you all that you have, and has made you all that you are.  It may seem as insignificant as five loaves and two fish, but think of how many thousands were fed when that little bit was committed to the hands of Jesus!  The results are not your responsibility.  He will do the work.  Be open and allow God to use all He has given you for His glory.