Created By God With Gifts…
Ephesians 4:1-16 (please click to read the passage)
I really like Chevy Corvettes. Pound for pound and dollar for dollar, many believe that the Corvette is the best sports car in the world as it competes internationally with other sports cars that cost three times its price and more. The Corvette is designed for speed, power, and agility around turns, and sitting behind its steering wheel makes drivers feel as if they are in the cockpit of an Air Force fighter jet.
Yet, despite its automotive bravado, the Corvette cannot drive an inch without a tiny part called a fuse, a piece of plastic roughly the size of a stamp that costs mere cents and connects the power source (battery) to the ignition. Without this seemingly insignificant piece,
-the famed engine cannot roar,
-the thick tires cannot grip the hairpin turns, and
-the sleek, polished frame cannot exit the garage.
The Corvette requires its myriad of parts under the hood and throughout the vehicle to work together, each consistently performing its assigned role with excellence, in order to do what it was made to do: drive fast.
The Body of the Christ—the collective church of followers of Jesus around the world—is no different. God has given all of His children
-different roles,
-different skills,
-different gifts,
-different parts to play
in His unfolding drama of
-revealing Himself to the world,
-adopting willing wanderers as His children,
-reconnecting estranged people to Himself and each other,
-remaking our hearts, minds, & lives to accurately reflect His character.
Just as the expert engineer takes a seemingly worthless piece of plastic and fashions it into a small but significant fuse enabling an $80,000 vehicle to operate, so God desires to expertly fashion our character to reflect His so that our small but significant lives make an eternal impact. But we must be willing to stick with Him so that He can do the reconstructive work in us that is necessary.
You see, the Body can only truly do what it was meant to do if all the parts—regardless of their prominence or perceived importance—fulfill their purpose with consistency & excellence.
1. So what is God’s role for you today?
2. For what part in His Story has He cast you?
3. Do you want to know?
4. Are you willing to accept the honor—and challenges—that come with accepting this role?
5. Do you think that you can be happy doing anything else than what He created you for?
6. If you feel woefully unprepared and ill-equipped for such a role, what are you willing to do, starting today, to begin practicing for it, to start allowing God to train you to fulfill your great potential as His child?
It is my prayer for all of us that we trust in God enough to have the courage and faith in Him to leave the garage and race down the “road less traveled,” growing closer to Jesus and showing off His greatness, love, power, and mercy to the watching world.