We were created for more than just existing. While we have redefined mediocrity as normal and far too often expect nothing more than that from ourselves, God will not accept it. He did not create us to be average but to be unique. Only God really knows the people we were intended to become. Only He can see the full measure of what is neglected or lost.
Sin is what happens when we have too much time on our hands and too little purpose in our lives. Sin fills a vacuum that is not supposed to be empty. To give our lives to the elimination of sin is like trying to fill a black hole. The Bible tells us that the reward for sin is death [Romans 6:23]. Sin and life cannot coexist. They are darkness and light.
Jesus reminds us that He came to give us life abundant [John 10:10]. When we begin to live, sin begins to fall off of us like pounds in a sauna. Some of the more difficult sins only come off when we run the treadmill, but as we truly begin to live, we become progressively less encumbered by sin. Not that we’ll ever fully achieve a sinless state this side of heaven, but the more we truly focus on His kingdom, the less time we have to devote to selfish pleasures and indulgences. We thus fill the vacuum with what is truly life. The outcome is stewardship, and all of us have gifts for which God demands our stewardship. None of us has been left empty-handed. To say we don’t have talent is to contradict God. We’re all unique in the contributions that we can make. All of us are complex and represent a composite of intelligence, passions, personality, skills and talents. The dynamic interaction of all of these are the material from which we draw our potential. Potential is a glimpse of what could be, yet there must be a shift from us merely having potential to us becoming potent!
Potential and productivity are not the same. You’re not supposed to die with your potential. A life well-lived recruits all the potential placed within and does something with it. When our potential is harnessed, we become potent. Potential, when it becomes potent, always produces results. We are born with potential, but we are called to live productive lives. The fool squanders his potential. He is not faithful with what God has given him.
Those who are most faithful with the most resources will find expanding roles in God’s kingdom. If God can help more people by entrusting you with far more than He gives to me, He will. It’s not about how much you or I get; it’s about what we will do with what we have [Luke 19].
When we are unfaithful, we are a bad investment. We may find ourselves blaming others for our failures, but in the end it’s all on us. When we are trustworthy, we can be entrusted with power. When we are faithful, our influence in the lives of others will naturally expand. Talent without character is a dangerous thing. Talent fueled by character is a gift from God.
-- To be continued --
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