ISH-ing Our Abilities (Part 1)

“For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”  Ephesians 2:10

Contrary to popular belief we were not placed on this earth to do whatever we want or whatever makes us feel good about ourselves. God in his wonderful foreknowledge looked ahead in time and saw us and knew the group of people we would live with and the needs of those people, so he gifted us with the abilities necessary to help them meet Jesus. That means that you have the abilities you need to help those close to you see Jesus. The question is are you going to use your abilities to expand the kingdom of God or to expand your own kingdom?
Often we find ourselves caught in the middle, trying to do both. Really we are ISH-ing it (In Sorta Halfway.) We feel like we can use our abilities so that we do well, and then whatever is left over we will give a little to God.  Surely He will be happy. But what God really is asking of us is that we use all of our abilities for his glory. The funny thing about giving them all to Him is that in return He gives us more than we could have gotten by using our abilities for our own good. So by going all in and using our abilities to grow the kingdom of God we are making sure that we end up being the best we can be and living the best life we could possibly live. It’s both counter culture and counter intuitive. But that is the way it works with God.
Does God have the best of your abilities? Or have you been ISH-ing them?

-Pastor Tim