Don't Waste Your Talents
“And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father’s house.” Judges 14:19
Many people today know that the Bible tells the story of a man named Samson. What he is most known for is his God given physical strength. Some people are born with a God given potential to be, for example, a great musician, a mathematician, or a star athlete.
Michael Jordan (in my opinion) was the most talented basketball player to ever play the game. But he wasn’t just born with the genetics that certainly contributed to his incredible skills on the basketball court; he put long hours into practice, trained with coaches, and worked hard to be the best that he could be. He didn’t waste his talent.
We are not only born with God given talents, we are also born again with talents, or gifts, that are imparted to us by the Holy Spirt who takes up residence in every believer. But like the talents that we are naturally born with, the talents and gifts that are ours through the Spirit must also be developed and utilized as the Spirit leads.
In the period of the Judges, which was a dark time in Israel’s history, Samson was a man that played a unique role in helping to protect his people from being destroyed by their enemies, the Philistines. He was given incredible physical strength by the Holy Spirit to keep the Philistines off-balance in their attempts to dominate the Israelites.
However, Samson had some major flaws. One of those flaws was that he easily fell in lust and in love with the wrong women. Samson was often driven by his lust and motivated by self-centered desires. But in this dark time of Israel’s history, God used Samson despite his flaws to accomplish His purpose in preserving His people through whom the Messiah would come.
When reading the book of Judges, we must be careful not to think that God glosses over the evil of man. God patiently used a flawed man by the power of his Spirit to accomplish his purposes. But God’s patience doesn’t mean His permission. Samson’s foolishness would catch up with him and greatly contributed to his demise.
In Judges 14, Samson shared a riddle with the enemy that involved a violation of his consecration to God. Samson had eaten honey from the dead carcass of a lion which he was forbidden to do. This was one of many examples that showed that although Samson was a strong man physically, he was a weak man spiritually. He was so weak that he made a joke out of his unrighteous acts.
In Judges, we read that Samson destroyed the enemy to pay off his gambling debts. But although Samson’s motives were far from pure, the Lord was also using this act of defeating the enemy to again, preserve His people for His redemptive purposes.
The fact that God used such a spiritually weak man by the power of His Spirit for His larger purposes must not lead us to think that holiness does not matter to God. God is patient, but not passive. As Charles Spurgeon put it: “Samson himself is a riddle. He was not only a riddle-maker; but he was himself an enigma very difficult to explain.”
Although Samson was an enigma, there are some very important lessons we can learn from his confusing life. Samson wasted his talents from the Spirit because he not only took them for granted, but he did not seek the Spirit to do the greater work of making him spiritually strong. He prayed for physical strength to defeat the enemy, but how often did he pray to defeat his greatest enemy, namely himself?
We need strength to serve the purposes of God. When I prepare to preach and as I step up to the pulpit to bring God’s word to His people, I pray continually for strength to effectively say what God wants me to say. I don’t want to mishandle the word. This was also the apostles Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 6:19-20.
But I don’t just want to be faithful to God’s word in the pulpit on Sunday morning. I’m far more concerned with being faithful to God’s word outside of the pulpit in my public and private life. I’m keenly aware that there’s an enemy without (Satan) that seeks to devour me. What’s more, there’s an even greater enemy within (self) that I must overcome lest I shipwreck my faith and waste the grace potential that I have for my good, the good of others, and for the glory of Jesus.
You know, often what people fear most is failure or looking bad in front of people. But we must pray for strength in our service not simply so that we don’t look bad. Our highest prayer should be that in our service and in our life we would represent Christ well and honor His name. This was also the apostle Paul’s prayer:
Don’t waste your talent. Seek the the Spirit’s power continually to be a man or a woman after God’s heart.
O may our continual prayer and pursuit be to be strengthened by the Spirit within to know the love of God to the satisfaction of our souls and to make His love known for the greater fame of Jesus.
In His service,
Pastor Marco
Many people today know that the Bible tells the story of a man named Samson. What he is most known for is his God given physical strength. Some people are born with a God given potential to be, for example, a great musician, a mathematician, or a star athlete.
Michael Jordan (in my opinion) was the most talented basketball player to ever play the game. But he wasn’t just born with the genetics that certainly contributed to his incredible skills on the basketball court; he put long hours into practice, trained with coaches, and worked hard to be the best that he could be. He didn’t waste his talent.
We are not only born with God given talents, we are also born again with talents, or gifts, that are imparted to us by the Holy Spirt who takes up residence in every believer. But like the talents that we are naturally born with, the talents and gifts that are ours through the Spirit must also be developed and utilized as the Spirit leads.
In the period of the Judges, which was a dark time in Israel’s history, Samson was a man that played a unique role in helping to protect his people from being destroyed by their enemies, the Philistines. He was given incredible physical strength by the Holy Spirit to keep the Philistines off-balance in their attempts to dominate the Israelites.
However, Samson had some major flaws. One of those flaws was that he easily fell in lust and in love with the wrong women. Samson was often driven by his lust and motivated by self-centered desires. But in this dark time of Israel’s history, God used Samson despite his flaws to accomplish His purpose in preserving His people through whom the Messiah would come.
When reading the book of Judges, we must be careful not to think that God glosses over the evil of man. God patiently used a flawed man by the power of his Spirit to accomplish his purposes. But God’s patience doesn’t mean His permission. Samson’s foolishness would catch up with him and greatly contributed to his demise.
In Judges 14, Samson shared a riddle with the enemy that involved a violation of his consecration to God. Samson had eaten honey from the dead carcass of a lion which he was forbidden to do. This was one of many examples that showed that although Samson was a strong man physically, he was a weak man spiritually. He was so weak that he made a joke out of his unrighteous acts.
In Judges, we read that Samson destroyed the enemy to pay off his gambling debts. But although Samson’s motives were far from pure, the Lord was also using this act of defeating the enemy to again, preserve His people for His redemptive purposes.
The fact that God used such a spiritually weak man by the power of His Spirit for His larger purposes must not lead us to think that holiness does not matter to God. God is patient, but not passive. As Charles Spurgeon put it: “Samson himself is a riddle. He was not only a riddle-maker; but he was himself an enigma very difficult to explain.”
Although Samson was an enigma, there are some very important lessons we can learn from his confusing life. Samson wasted his talents from the Spirit because he not only took them for granted, but he did not seek the Spirit to do the greater work of making him spiritually strong. He prayed for physical strength to defeat the enemy, but how often did he pray to defeat his greatest enemy, namely himself?
“God did use Samson mightily; but God used Samson despite his sin, not because of it. It is fair to suppose that God may have used Samson in a far greater way if he made himself a clean vessel according to the principle of 2 Timothy 2:20-21.” David Guzik
We need strength to serve the purposes of God. When I prepare to preach and as I step up to the pulpit to bring God’s word to His people, I pray continually for strength to effectively say what God wants me to say. I don’t want to mishandle the word. This was also the apostles Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 6:19-20.
But I don’t just want to be faithful to God’s word in the pulpit on Sunday morning. I’m far more concerned with being faithful to God’s word outside of the pulpit in my public and private life. I’m keenly aware that there’s an enemy without (Satan) that seeks to devour me. What’s more, there’s an even greater enemy within (self) that I must overcome lest I shipwreck my faith and waste the grace potential that I have for my good, the good of others, and for the glory of Jesus.
You know, often what people fear most is failure or looking bad in front of people. But we must pray for strength in our service not simply so that we don’t look bad. Our highest prayer should be that in our service and in our life we would represent Christ well and honor His name. This was also the apostle Paul’s prayer:
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:14-19
Don’t waste your talent. Seek the the Spirit’s power continually to be a man or a woman after God’s heart.
O may our continual prayer and pursuit be to be strengthened by the Spirit within to know the love of God to the satisfaction of our souls and to make His love known for the greater fame of Jesus.
In His service,
Pastor Marco