Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 17: Spiritual Gifts”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Romans 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
The human body is an amazing machine. Consider just a few facts:
- Human lungs contain almost 1,500 miles of airways and over 300 million alveoli.
- If the blood vessels in the human body were laid end to end, they would encircle the Earth four times.
- The human body consists of around 37.2 TRILLION cells.
With over 37 trillion different parts – and that doesn’t even count all the parts of a cell – the human body is an amazing feat of God’s creation. It’s complexity defies the scientific community to fully know. It’s parts too many to count. It’s function is almost endless.
Yet it is designed JUST AS God wanted it to be…just enough cells for the heart, the right amount for the brain, and the perfect design for the lungs…and more.
Isn’t it interesting that God uses the human body to give us a glimpse of his spiritual body – the church?
So many different members, yet one body.
EACH part is important. EACH part is uniquely gifted. EACH part needs all the other parts.
Think of what the body accomplishes…some without even thinking about it:
- An average person breathes in around 11,000 litres of air every day.
- In one year, a human heart would pump enough blood to fill an Olympic size pool.
- Your heart beats around 100,000 times a day, 36,500,000 times a year and over a billion times if you live beyond 30.
What could the body of Christ accomplish for the Lord if EACH part new its role and carried it out? I believe we have just scratched the surface and the impact of Christians around the world would be incredible if we all, with the Spirit’s help, committed to being an ACTIVE member of the body of Christ with the gifts that God has given to EACH of us.
But that takes commitment. It takes commitment to understand your gift. It takes commitment to not do somethings so you can engage with fellow believers. It takes commitment to push through the obstacles for the sake of God’s mission and ministry to reach souls.
If the heart could talk, it may say, “I’m tired today. I think I’ll stop for awhile.” The whole body suffers.
If the lungs could talk, they may say, “I’ve got enough air for awhile, I’ll just take a nap.” The whole body suffers.
If the cells could talk, they may say, “Let’s take turns taking a break and stop functioning.” The whole body suffers.
The point? The body of Christ needs you to be actively engaged and fully committed to the work of the Lord. The other parts and the health of the body are counting on you.
Will you carry out your role?
With the guidance of the Spirit and the power he gives…put into action the gifts and faith that God has given to you!
Apply: What gifts has God given to you? How can you actively use them to be a blessing to the body of Christ?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the grace you have given to me to believe in you and live for you. Help me to be a faithful steward of all these gifts of grace! AMEN.