MINE TO USE
Carey Madding
Today's Scripture: “If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.” 1 Corinthians 3:12-13, NIV
Theme: You have the freedom to use the treasure God has entrusted to you, but only certain investments will stand the test of time and eternity.
IT’S MY CHOICE
When I go to the gym, the instructor will sometimes encourage us by saying, “It’s your body! Only you know what it will do! Stretch deeper; give more resistance. Come on! Try it!” She’s right. I do know what I am capable of doing, yet I sometimes stop a little shy of that. If I feel strong, I press right up to the limit of my ability, but I don’t do that often. So, even though I show up, there can be minimal or weak-willed effort. Is that my body’s fault? No. I have a good, healthy body. What I choose to do or not do with it is my decision. Yet there is no long-lasting benefit if I exert minimal effort.
LIKE SALVATION OR RESOURCES
In the same way, God has given me some wonderful things: I have salvation and eternal life, the free gift of God through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. This is a foundation that cannot be overestimated. It is everything! I also have spiritual gifts that were given to me when I first believed. I have physical and financial resources, gifts of God, but mine to use or not use as I wish. The Bible tells us to “work out our salvation.” As we heard last week, we are also to use the talents we’ve been given as God’s investment in us.
And finally, the material treasure and resources I have been given are entrusted to me for a reason. Although I am the “owner” of them, I need to see myself as God’s steward of them. The value of my use of these resources will be revealed on the Day of Judgment. Like an appraisal, the life that I have built and the works that I have done will be inspected and quantified. I want to be a “value-added” employee, someone who is furthering the kingdom of God and building for eternity. I pray that I am someone whose work is useful and withstands the test of God’s appraisal.
Make It Personal: What talent or resource can you identify which is being underutilized? Are you wasting time on social media or streaming services? Do you love shopping for yourself and neglect the disadvantaged, your church, or a pressing humanitarian need? Take a second to acknowledge that everything you have and everything you are is a gift from God. Now, acknowledge that you have the power to do with it what you will. Choose to be intentional about building in a worthy manner on the foundation of Jesus with the resources you’ve been given.
Pray: Lord God, thank You for the Solid Rock of my life. And thank You for the many ways You have blessed me. Thank You for the spiritual and material possessions You have placed in my hands. Help me to steward them well. Guide me, advise me in the correct use and the eternal purposes which You want me to invest in and build upon. Really, I want to bless others with the blessings I’ve been given.
Read: Exodus 35:30-35; Philippians 2:16-17; 2 Corinthians 9:8
Weekly Memory Verse: “For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’” 1 Peter 2:6 (ESV)