The Sermon On Sunday

We have all been gifted. Some have 10 shares, some have 5 and some even have as little as 1 or 2. 

We learned Sunday that the amount of gifted shares isn't our focus. Our concern is glorifying God not counting our shares. We take what the Lord has given us, invest it into the lives of the people He loves and PRESTO ... we get a good return for our investment. 

Easy to write about on a blog post ... But what if you don't know how to share your gifts? What if we say the wrong thing, act the wrong way or don't have the right kind of faith to move those mountains? 

Let's look at God's Word, what did He do with His disciples that didn't properly use the gifts they were given? Nathan had seen Jesus do many miracles but the day there was a huge crowd and only a few fish Nathan was baffled. He had been given the gift of seeing Jesus miracles first hand but he blew it. He had no idea how to feed all the people.  

How about Peter? Oh man, that poor guy! If anyone did it wrong it was him. Impulsive and fearful. He had been a close companion of Jesus. He had been given the gift of seeing things first hand. He ate the bread and fish, he walked on the water for a brief moment. WOW! That should have been enough of a gifted share for anyone to be able to have 100% return. Yet, he fell into the water and he denied Christ. 

Who doesn't want to be strong in the Lord, able to recognize our gifts and use them like warm sunshine on a cold day? We might wonder what happens when we are clumsy or wrong as we use the gifted shares that have been given to us.

In the Bible there are some examples of folks that did it wrong. Those disciples ... even when they were wrong Jesus loved them ...  He continued instructing and teaching them the right way to go. Staying with them, walking with them and then finally sending the Holy Spirit to be with them all the time. 

You and I are the same. Have you ever wanted to take back the words of your mouth the second they came out? Have you ever absent mindlessly  walked by a hurting person? Have you come up short and been careless with our gifted shares? 

Thankfully, even in the foolish use of our shares we can count on Jesus to love us, to instruct and teach us, and to continue walking with us as we try again and again to invest in the lives of the people He loves, the ones He has put into our lives. We can have confidence and hope. We can invest in the lives of others in the best way we know how and trust God with the increase. He stays with us, through all our ups and downs. He walks with us through our mistakes. That means we can be brave and love the people He loves. We can entrust the time we have been given in their lives.  

In the end, it doesn't matter how many gifts you have been given, rather, just invest as the Lord leads, read His Word and trust Him with the return. You will be filled with joy and will be so happy knowing you will be glorifying the Lord.