BLESSING THE CHILDREN

And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”  Mark 9:36

 

 

SHE BELIEVED IN ME.  She saw something that I couldn’t recognize, and she acted on it.  I was seven or eight years old, and she invited me to be her assistant teacher for our primary Sunday school class.  Because she asked me, I shyly accepted.  And so, Sis. Reed (that’s what we called older ladies in our church) provided a platform by which I would discover and hone my gift for teaching.  After all these years, I’m still at it.

Then there was “Sheltie,” an older man in our small church who mentored all the youngsters and loved each of us.  He, too, encouraged me to serve and even took me with him to visit the high school class he taught.  He believed in me, and I knew he cared about me.  I think all of us in the younger crowd felt the same way.

My husband had a long and distinguished career in law and on the bench and liked to talk about a teacher in high school who challenged him at the end of a semester saying, “Young man, you can make something out of yourself.”  Being a first-generation American, not many folks had taken time to encourage his talents.  Peter listened to her, set his course, and never looked back.

Some of us have children; some even have grandchildren; and we all have young lives around us who are looking to us to believe in them and encourage their wildest dreams.  We can become mentors or introduce them to those who will, and we can provide resources and experiences that will stir up the gifts God has placed in them.  The greatest investment we can make is in shaping and influencing a life to fill that spot reserved for him or her in the Kingdom.

Here’s a whole summer ahead of us.  What little one can we spend time with… read to… teach in VBS… affirm?   (I really wish I could thank Sheltie and Sis. Reed for the gifts of themselves.  Some day I plan to.)

 

 

Father, open our eyes to see the treasure of the little lives around us, and use us to bless them in your name.  AMEN.

GIFTS

…Unto one he gave five…, to another two, to another one; to each according to his several ability…

 

One day a rather humorless CEO called in his three top managers to discuss his upcoming trip.  As they sat around the massive mahogany table sipping French pressed coffee, the CEO began barking his instructions.  To the first man, he said, “I’m having our financial officer direct deposit $5,500,000* into your account.”  To the second woman, he said, “The financial officer is depositing $4,500,000* into your account.”  And to the last person, he said, “You will be receiving $1,150,000*.”  He continued, “I’ll be out of the country for quite a while, and you are to invest these funds. When I return, I expect all the funds with a profit.  Is that clear?”

Each of the managers contemplated how best to follow their CEO’s directive.  The first two were more comfortable than the last.  Finally, the day of reckoning came.  The boss came home and called the managers back to his office.  Again, they were all seated around the mahogany table drinking their specialty coffee when the CEO began, “Now tell me what you did with my money.”  The first manager said, “I put it all in equities and made five times as much.”  “Great work,” the boss replied.  The second manager replied, “I invested your funds in bonds, and I realized twice as much as you gave me.”  “Good thinking,” said the CEO.  The third nervous manager said, “I knew you were a hard-nosed financier, so I took the money and locked it up in my desk.”  At that, the boss was infuriated.  “You knew that I’m a shrewd investor and yet you took the money entrusted to you and locked it in your drawer?  For all this time?  Go get that money and divide it between your two co-workers.  YOU’RE FIRED.”

Of course, this is a contemporary re-telling of Jesus’ Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25.  It is not instruction for how to handle money but rather how to handle the gifts that each of us is given.  (For lists of those gifts, see Romans 12:3-9, Ephesians 4:2-12, I Corinthians 12:1-31, I Peter 4:10, 11.)  The gifts are given to us to bless and strengthen the Church, those brothers and sisters we have in the Lord.  And while we’re at it, they can be used to attract what one writer calls pre-Christians.  In false modesty, don’t downplay and underestimate what God has placed within you.  Your gift may be something that not everyone will see or notice or it may be something that must be done with an audience.  Whatever it is, you are unequivocally told to use it.  You may never know how significantly your talent touches another life, but obedience is the mandate.  If you choose not to exercise, or to hide, your gift, the whole Church (not the institution, but the Body) will suffer.

Take time this week to prayerfully determine what special gift God has placed in you.  Take it out of the drawer and dust it off.  Then begin to use it for God’s glory, the blessing of his people, and your gratification.  Not my words—God’s.

 

Father, in all honesty, you don’t need us, but you’ve chosen to include us in your great Church.  Embolden us to present to you those gifts you’ve given us to use as you will.  In Jesus’ name.  AMEN.

 

 

*These funds are conversions based on the average U.S. manager’s annual salary in multiples of 1, 2, and 5.

MY TIME

My times are in your hands.  Psalm 31:15  (NIV).

 

My graduate advisor was a time management consultant.  He gave us so many helpful ideas about time, but there are two things that really stuck with me.  First, time is an equal opportunity commodity—everyone has exactly the same amount, no more and no less.  Secondly, we cannot manage time; we manage ourselves in relation to time.  So these two little truisms pull the rug out from under our excuses for procrastination:  I just didn’t have time or I’ll do it when I find the time.  As if someone else has more time than we do…

Typically in our church year, we are called to look at those resources of which we are stewards:  time, talent, treasure.  Curiously, we seem to understand that talent and treasure are God’s, and we are his stewards.  But when it comes to time, we take ownership and thoughtlessly speak of my time and parse the way we expend this trust.  We guard our time and dare anyone to impose on it.  Even God should not presume to infringe of this personal possession.

So we spend our time indulging ourselves in whatever manner we choose, but it really doesn’t matter how innocuous the activity if it diminishes God’s calling on our lives.  We can spend hours in mindless personal entertainment (as opposed to re-creation) and feel empty and restless rather than refreshed and satisfied.  Or we can daily, prayerfully ask God how we should expend the moments and hours he’s given us for his purposes.  While we all have the same amount of time allotted, that time is finite and can joyously be invested in his Kingdom for eternal purposes.

What if we were to dedicate time to God as intentionally as we give him the talent and treasure he’s entrusted to us?  Would we stop guarding it and daring people to infringe upon it?  Might we find, just as treasure tends to be, that it is multiplied even as we freely commit it to our heavenly Father to use as he pleases?

I think it’s worth a try.

 

Father, at the start of this day, we commit these next twenty-four hours to you to use for your glory.  Give us the discipline to embrace and prioritize our responsibilities, enjoy the leisure you provide, and not waste a single minute of your precious gift. In all that we do, help us to glorify you.  In Jesus’ name.  AMEN.