Friday January 15th, 2016 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (verse 7)
We are now just past the day of Epiphany upon which we celebrated the visit of the Wise Men. I heard about a Sunday school Christmas program in which a young boy struggled to remember his lines as a wise man. Each time he brought forward his gifts he would loudly proclaim, “We offer precious gifts of gold, circumstance and mud!”
Not great gifts, are they? Well, we know that the wise men’s gifts were indeed precious, and Paul assures us that the Spirit’s gifts to us are more precious still.
Whatever the circumstance of our lives, God’s Holy Spirit is present to assure us that we are not mired in the mud of our sin but have been set free and endowed with a gift more precious than gold-the Holy Spirit working in and through us for the benefit the church!
Do you know your spiritual gift(s)? If you don’t, there are excellent online resources, or talk to your pastor and encourage them to help you discern them. And may God, who activates all of them, bring you joy as you learn to share that gift in your community and the world.
Spirit of the Living God, be stirred up in our lives to enable us to seek and enact the common good that is your will. Amen. — MH
Contributed by Gold, Circumstance and Mud
We are now just past the day of Epiphany upon which we celebrated the visit of the Wise Men. I heard about a Sunday school Christmas program in which a young boy struggled to remember his lines as a wise man. Each time he brought forward his gifts he would loudly proclaim, "We offer precious gifts of gold, circumstance and mud!"
Not great gifts, are they? Well, we know that the wise men's gifts were indeed precious, and Paul assures us that the Spirit's gifts to us are more precious still.
Whatever the circumstance of our lives, God's Holy Spirit is present to assure us that we are not mired in the mud of our sin but have been set free and endowed with a gift more precious than gold-the Holy Spirit working in and through us for the benefit the church!
Do you know your spiritual gift(s)? If you don't, there are excellent online resources, or talk to your pastor and encourage them to help you discern them. And may God, who activates all of them, bring you joy as you learn to share that gift in your community and the world.
