In our study of I Kings 6:29, on the inspired order which is found therein, today we come to second part of the series, after having focused on Cherubim which symbolized adoration in the previous part…
II) Assignments
“He decorated all the walls of the inner sanctuary and the main room with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers” (I Kings 6:29)
Next in order…hmmm…what do the Palm trees signify? Before that raise your hands, those who know as to how many uses a Palm tree can be put to? 360 uses…ladies and gentlemen!!! If it is not a staggering number, then what is?
So what is the ever-so-faithful Scripture teaching us here…if you are a worshipping Christian, first and foremost…then the good Lord would put you into “360” uses…would bring numerous God-honoring responsibilities your way…would take you around 360 cities in the World to glorify His Name and edify His body of believers (read the Universal Church) but for all that fulfilling experiences to come your way, you need to fulfill your primary calling…that is to worship Him with all your heart, strength and soul (Deut 6:5/Mark 12:29-30).
Let’s dig a bit deep here and see and how can we go about going about fulfilling the God-given assignments to perfection…
a) Availability
Hey, the good Lord sees the full picture, while we with our finite vision may not be able envisage the “A to Z” of our future…so some of the responsibilities that He sends our way may not be very appealing to us initially, but in hindsight, we would discover they were customized for our temperament fashioned by His upbringing…ask a certain Moses. So in God-given assignments, more than our ability, it is our availability which counts. Once we say “yes” to the Lord, the sky is the limit.
Moses in his finite strength buried one Egyptian in fear and ran away (Exodus 2:11-15). Fast forward by 40 years and what do we see, the same Moses in God-ordained capacity as a deliverer of Jews in Old Testament times, in God’s infinite strength, burying the entire, hard-hearted, hostile Pharoah’s (a type of anti-christ in Old Testament times, belonging to the genre of Haman, Antiochus Epiphanes etc.) army…now no prizes for guessing where…(Exodus 14:26-28)!!! A foreshadow of what Christ in His capacity of a deliverer of the Jews in New Testament Times (Romans 11:26) would do to the Anti-Christ and his Anti-Semitic army in Armageddon…in the not too distant future…from now (Rev 19:19-21)…
b) Adaptability
Wherever the good Lord has placed us in His sovereign wisdom, the key to effective Ministry is adaptability. On the subject of flexible “flexing of spiritual muscles,” none cannot put it better than the apostle Paul…
“To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel that I may share in its blessings.” (I Cor 9:19-23)
Wanna see the apostle Paul’s adaptability in action…then let’s board the time machine and go back in time, visiting the Mars Hill forum in Athens, and what do we see? The blessed apostle standing up to address the Athenian Philosophers prone to idol-worshipping, and how does he begin his message? With words of harsh criticism for idol worship? No! Let the Scripture take over…
“Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way…” (Acts 17:22)
Paul addresses them in a tone full of love and absolutely devoid of any sarcasm. Now how’s that for “bridge building” before going on to proclaim the Gospel, which the Apostle did with commendable results (Acts 17:22/33-34)!!!
Though the apostle Paul was largely an evangelist, remember he virtually “shepherded” (read Pastored) the Ephesian Church for 3 years (Acts 20:31) and his words “to the weak, I became weak” need to be taken seriously by all pastors when it comes to feeding the “new borns” in Christ. Those taking baby steps in the Christian faith should not be “bombarded” with sermons from the book of Revelation, rather they should be fed with “easy to digest” Scripture, such as the gospel of John, Paul’s “prison” epistles (ie Colossians, Ephesians), etc.
c) Accountability
“We’re being as careful in our
reputation with the public as in our reputation with God.” (2 Cor 8:21 The Message).
Observe the apostle Paul’s words exuding concern when it comes to a minister’s
accountability to God and men.
In the assignments given to us by the Almighty, it is imperative we ought to be not only fair, but we must also seem to be fair at all times, as invariably a servant of God’s actions are under the public microscope.
Let me go as far as to say that in going about the God-given assignments, we are not only accountable for our actions but also our thoughts (Pro 23:7a KJV). Let’s strive to keep our conscience clear at all times (Acts 23:1).
Prayer: Master equip us with Your strength and wisdom to go about our Christian assignments with readily available adaptability and accountability. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Suresh Manoharan
J and SM Ministries (To access the rest of this mini-series, please click here.)