For by the grace given me, I tell you everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think.  Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed measure of faith to each one.  Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.  Romans 12:3-6  HCSB

Yesterday we saluted our Veterans.  I pointed out to you that not everyone is made to do the same type of work.  God made some of us to be warriors or soldiers.  He made some to be police officers.  He made some to be firemen, some to be mechanics, some to be nurses, some to be teachers.  We were all made and given certain gifts.  I have many friends who are teachers and I applaud them for what they do. I also have several friends that are nurses.  I tried that myself, but couldn’t make it through the anatomy and physiology courses.

Genesis 2 tells us that God formed man and woman.  God formed them to live in close relationship with Him.  He provided all that they needed, but instructed them to not eat the fruit from a certain tree.  Well, the devil came in and tempted them and they brought sin into this perfect existence and as a result we all suffer the consequences even today.  Jeremiah 1:5 tells us that God knew us before He formed us in the womb.  He knew what gifts we had.  He knew what we should be when we grow up.  Now I don’t know what stage of life you are in, perhaps you are trying to figure out which college courses are right for you.  Perhaps you have been in a career for many years or have even retired.  Perhaps you have worked for many years in a field that pays the bills but just isn’t what you really want to do.  I must say that I went to church my whole life and I always felt that God had led me to the career that I chose in Probation and Parole.  But I had no idea what my gifts were until I really got involved in church.  I had attended church my whole life, but I only got involved about 8 years ago.  The really funny things about these gifts that God gives, is that sometimes they take us out of our comfort zones to serve Him.  Sometimes He equips us to do things that we never thought we could do.

What I want you to remember today is that it is a gift!  God gives us the wonderful gift of mercy and salvation, but He also gives us these gifts that we are to use to serve Him and to serve others. Have you ever given someone a gift to find that they just put it down and never used it?  It’s really disappointing when you spent a great deal of time to choose this gift and thought that you would be getting something that they love, right?  Well, imagine God’s disappointment when He gives us a gift and we never use it for what He intended it for.

Before you were formed in your mother’s womb, God had given you this special gift.  Are you using it today?  If the answer is no, then I feel sorry for you my friend.  You see, I have never had such a sense of peace and joy as when I began to do the things that God had called me to do.

No doubt, this Christmas season, someone like me, will give you this gift that you look at, say, “Oh, that’s nice” and stuff it back in the box and to the back of your closet, never to be seen again until you clean out that closet and haul it to Goodwill or use it in a naughty Santa game.  But God has already given you a gift that you simply must start using.  If you are unsure about the gift that God has given you, you can go to giftstest.com and take the free test.  They will email you results within 5-10 minutes.

Draw into a closer relationship with God today.  Know that even if the gift that He has given you takes you out of your comfort zone, it will bring you so much joy.  God wants us to be happy, we experience joy as my pastor has said many times, by putting Jesus first, others second and ourselves last.

My prayer for you today is that you pull that gift out that God has given you and put it to good use.  Also, if you are not in church, there is a church that is in need of someone with your gift.  Let God lead you there.  Or perhaps you are in church, but you merely attend and are not involved.  Get involved today, allow God to use you.  We all want things to work out for us and Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work for the good of those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.  That little qualifier of being called according to His purpose means that we are using the gifts He gave us to do the job He called us to do.

I Hope that you are doing that!  It’s a gift!  Embrace it!

Have a great day!