Thursday, March 25, 2010

ListenDaily – 25 March 2010: “But if I don’t do it, who will?”

ListenDaily – 25 March 2010: “But if I don’t do it, who will?”

"The word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
(Jeremiah 1:4-5)

God spoke these words directly to Jeremiah.

Don't you wish we could hear Him as clearly?

But, you know, we can hear God, in different ways. One of those ways, of course, is through His Words in Scripture. And while these words were specifically for Jeremiah (we are not all called as prophets) the truth that God knows us and has specific plans for us, is true for ALL of us. Consider church stuff, singing in the choir, helping in the kitchen, teaching Sunday School, working on an administrative committee, working with youth, etc. Your church, my church, they are really God's churches, right? And He loves and cares about His church, does He not? And do you not think He has in mind specific people to make up specific parts of the Body?

Hey, I'm as guilty, or guiltier, than the next guy. I've served on nominating committees desperate to fill positions. And I've agreed to take positions and duties without being led to them. I've asked myself the question: “But if I don’t do it, who will?”

And there is not just one answer to that. It could be that some other person who should not say "yes" does anyway.

Maybe the job goes undone. And, maybe, just maybe, it's supposed to go undone.

Or maybe, just maybe, the person God is calling is the next person to be called, if you say no.

The church is harmed more by people not hearing God's specific call than it is by church work left undone (I'm not talking about the Great Commission, which always needs more laborers).

Who will do it if you don't? I don't know. But we are called to be obedient to those things God is calling us to do.

TOMORROW: More of the same...kind of.

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Questions:
1. Reflecting on your own work in the church, were you specifically called?
2. What is the result, when a child busies himself with all sorts of activities, but never accomplishes that which his parent asked him to do?
3. Can you pray, right now, for God to show you, specifically, what He wants you to do?

INTERESTING THOUGHT:
"Wise leaders should have known that the human heart cannot exist in a vacuum. If Christians are forbidden to enjoy the wine of the Spirit they will turn to the wine of the flesh. Christ died for our hearts and the Holy Spirit wants to come and satisfy them." A.W.Tozer

"When I cannot enjoy the faith of assurance, I live by the faith of adherence." Matthew Henry

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