HOW TO BE USEFUL TO GOD.
No,
I am not an expert on the subject.
But I have picked up on the clue which
is my desire to pass on to you.
Back ground, or research if that would
make you feel any better. I have "attempted"
to live for God for over sixty years. That does
not count my years of growing up. And of
course that includes a lot of experience and
not all of that has been good. A lot of that
has been failure. That includes many years
of observation of the lives of other people,
both successful and unsuccessful.
During those sixty or more years I have
been a diligent reader of the Holy Bible
having read it well over one hundred times.
No, that does not necessarily make me smart.
And of course have studied it for years
attempting to teach it now and then.
But probably one of the most instructive things
I have run across, at least as far as my current
subject is, the reading of dozens and dozens
of biographies. For myself, one of the most
encouraging things spiritually apart from the
Bible is the biographies of successful men and
women of God. Reading them is encouraging
to me.
But in all this reading something has stood
out to me. Some of these People were highly
educated. And some could not read or right
enough to spell their own name.
Some of them came from wealthy situations,
and some were as poor as dirt.
Some of these people had very strong physical
constitutions. And some these people were
sickly by nature.
Some of these successful people were outgoing
and charismatic by nature. And some of these
successful people used of God were retiring quit
people who would make great hermits.
Some of these people "just" happened to be
in advantages positions. And some of these
people were totally disadvantaged.
The list could go on and on. But that is enough
to see that the list could include you and me.
What was the one common denominator that
made them useful to God?
Jesus Christ himself said,
"If anyone wishes to come after Me,
he must deny himself, and take up his
cross daily and follow Me."
(Luke (9:23 NASB)
Remember, the cross was a method of
execution. A way to die. And in this
case to die to self.
The Apostle James says it another way;
"Submit therefore to God. Resist the
devil and he will flee from you."
(James 4:7 NASB)
And the Apostle Paul one place when talking
on this subject said; "I die daily."
(1 Corinthians 15:31 NASB)
In short, If I want to be really useful to God,
no matter where I am or what ever my
circumstances my be,
I have to die to myself and my
desires and give myself over to
God to let him use me however
he wants.
