I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God. 2 Timothy 1:6
Edison, the inventor, had more than 1,000 patents. Picasso averaged more than 200 paintings a year. Mozart wrote more than 600 great musical compositions, and all this before he died at age 35. “Great talents, these, but I don’t have any,” you say.
Not true! In most of us there is not this great capacity. Perhaps, too, most of us don’t have the concentration and 98 percent perspiration.
However true that may be, we know that all people have some talents, endowments, and abilities – some more than others. You, too, have a talent. It may be a diamond in the rough, but it’s there. Let’s mention a few, and you can perhaps identify with one or more: a cheerful disposition, the ability to make friends, a readiness to listen when people present personal problems, skills in homemaking, a patience that goes with trying to help one who struggles, the giving of advice based on knowledge and experience, a good memory, a receptive mind. A compassionate heart. Little talents? No. They become big ones when rightly used.
When enhanced by the Christian faith, our gifts are profitably used in the service of Christ. And that is what makes our personal endowments so precious – with them we can glorify God and bring help into the lives of troubled and deprived people.
What a joy it is to our Savior Jesus Christ when He sees that He redeemed us not only from something – from the guilt of sin and the fear of death – but also for something – for serving Him and His brothers and sisters with our talents!
A deed of love done in His name can mean more than an invention by Edison, a painting by Picasso, a motet by Mozart. This is not to minimize great talent; it is to maximize what Christian love can do with even so small a personal talent.
PRAYER: O Holy Spirit, stir up the gift that is in me and help me to use it in the service of Christ, my Savior. Amen.
(Devotions from "With Jesus Every Day" copyright 1997, CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time emailing of this link to a friend. For information on other devotional material, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit CPH at www.cph.org.)
Today's Bible Readings: Job 20-21 Matthew 11
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