Chosen By God
Author: Josué Mora Peña"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: what whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you". With these words, Jesus was ordaining and commissioning his disciples to go and bear fruit.
God has given us gifts and talents for one reason: to use them. Thats why when God rescues someone from eternal damnation he doesnt take him to heaven because God needs that person here. He has a purpose for you and me in this life. We are His hands and feet. He wants to use them to build His Kingdom. Use them. Or lose them.
No one can say that he has no gifts or talents. God has given us abilities in order to serve Him. On several occasions I have heard some people say, "I cannot do anything. I do not know anything." When a person expresses him/herself that way, it is like saying God made them that way. In other words, that person cannot do anything for God because He made him that way. If a person really wants to do something for the Kingdom of God, there are many ways to serve our Creator and it is a great privilege to be able to serve God.
But right along with the privilege of serving God come the responsibilities. We cannot have one without the other, like a movie star in the United States used to sing, in relation to love and marriage, "You cannot have one without the other". It is a great responsibility and probably thats why some people elude serving God.
In the Gospel of Luke chapter 22:24-27 we read that the disciples wanted to know who was the greatest in the Kingdom of God. These verses read, "And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greater among you, let it be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that does serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? Is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth." Jesus is teaching His disciples that the person who serves is greater that the person and is being served. And Jesus Himself said that He came to serve and not to be served. That is some kind of satisfaction when we are able to serve others, especially when we can serve God to built His Kingdom.
Theres no other position in the whole world greater than to serve God. I read sometime back about the Rev. Billy Graham, the great evangelist of the last century. Some of the politicians were asking him to run for President of the United States. They were very persistent to the point that he had to tell them that if they continue asking him to run for the Presidency he would become a citizen of another country. Yes, my friends, even this kind of position would not be compared with being an Ambassador for Christ and thats what you are when you are willing to serve God.
Serving God has an eternal impact. We can rescue a soul from ending up in hell or we can indirectly send someone there. Theres a true story about John Dillinger. He was a "bandido". He robbed and killed people. The story goes that as a child, he attended a church of the Nazarene, but his Sunday School teacher could not put up with his bad behavior anymore, so she told him to leave. He did and never again did he go back to church. If he did not repent before died, he would be in hell. Yes, it is a great privilege to serve God but what a tremendous responsibility we have.
However, serving God has its rewards. I dont know if the following story is true or is just an illustration. It is about Charlie the Wino, in a small town somewhere in Texas. On a Sunday morning the pastor of a small congregation found out the church was not cleaned. He went downtown to find somebody to help him out to clean. He found Charlie at the skid row, an alcoholic. He asked him if he wanted to make some money, Charlie said yes. To make a long story short, the pastor took him to church for several Sundays to clean it and eventually was saved. Found a job. God prospered him. Became owner of his own business and continued cleaning the church. Wouldnt you like to be like Charlie? Without the wine of course.
You see, every one of us is like a brick. Were building the Kingdom of God. Were all special before Him. You are supporting Him. If a brick breaks, all the structure suffers. Churches have closed her doors because of that. Thats why it is imperative that we all work together in building His Kingdom, that we all be responsible of our privilege of serving God. In order to be responsible to serve God, we must be responsible to God.
Some of our responsibilities before our Creator are:
- To Bring honor and glory to God
It was A. W. Tozer who said that "the number 1 priority of the Christian is to God, to bring honor and glory to His name, even before the salvation of souls." Men were created to worship God. Thats why if a person does not know God, he will find a god to worshipmoney, a good name, fame, an object, or something similar.
- To grow and mature in the knowledge of God.
That means to pray and read and study the Bible in order to grow. The same way that we go to school to learn to write and read, in the same way we need to study the Word of God to know and serve Him better.
- To serve God in the church where we worship Him and the community.
Yes, like we said before, that is some kind of satisfaction when we can be of service to someone. Theres no way to describe the joy of helping somebody who is in distress. Try it, youll like. Better yet, you will love it.
And, of course, that are many more ways to serve God wherever we are.
May God richly bless you and have a Happy New Year.
josue.mora@iglesiabautista.org
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And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 