A New Year - New Opportunities

Each new day brings promise of a new start. For many, the start of a new week is the time to begin that diet, get serious about exercising, or forego TV viewing. For a vast majority, though, there’s something especially motivating and invigorating about seeing the JANUARY calendar on the wall. This is the year we’ll accomplish great things.

God doesn’t necessarily call us to do great things, however. He asks that we be trustworthy in small things (Luke 16:10-11). To that end He gives us gifts to use to build up the Body of Christ and to reach out to the lost.

Some of us have many gifts. People like Michelangelo – painter, sculptor, and poet – and Thomas Jefferson – architect, statesman, and scientific farmer – come to mind. God, the Giver of gifts, knows that the number of gifts each of us has varies. Jesus told the Parable of the Talents pointing up this fact and teaching us that success lies in using what we’ve been given, not in having the greatest amount.

Our gifts also differ in degree. There are many sculptors but few, if any, compare to Michelangelo. Yet their art can bring satisfaction and inspiration to others. You may not be able to sing opera, but you can sing God’s praises. You may not be a great orator, but you can witness to the love and grace of God in Christ. You may not be a mechanic, but you can provide transportation for someone needing to get to an appointment or to church.

That’s why God gives us gifts and abilities – that we may be equipped to serve others. The start of a new year offers us an opportune time to assess those gifts and see how we can use them for God’s glory and the good of His people. The motivation to do this comes from the same One Who gave the gifts! Just as He was motivated by love for us to give us, not just our gifts, but His greatest gift, His Son, so we are motivated by love for Him to serve those He calls us to serve.

Ronald J. Chewning

12 Months of Congregational Stewardship