Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Work Assignments from the Lord - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Chronicles 23:3-5,

"The Levites thirty years old or more were counted, and the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand. David said, 'Of these, twenty-four thousand are to be in charge of the work of the temple of the Lord and six thousand are to be officials and judges. Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have provided for that purpose.'"

The priests and Levites were all given their assignments. While we can assume there may have been some negotiating over specific tasks at a very low level, the broader responsibilities were assigned to the various groups.

I don't get the impression that these assignments were optional. They certainly don't appear to be as we read of the work distribution among the various groups.

While it may be something of a stretch here, it causes me to think of the various tasks the Lord assigns the church. Among them are things like making disciples, baptizing them, teaching them, Matthew 28:18-20.

We read of a distribution of gifts, of abilities the Lord provides us, "We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully." Romans 12:6-8. These gifts are given with the singular purpose to utilize them in the performance of tasks the Lord gives us.

We read of this kind of thing in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines."

Peter reminds us that we are to employ these "gifts", these abilities given us, and not to sit on them, "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4:10.

Peter doesn't seem to indicate our responsibilities given us by the Lord are subject to our whims- just as the responsibilities given the priests and Levites in David's day were not.

Rather than an approach that suggests something along the lines of "well, if you feel like it... maybe you could do this or that..." - I'm just not seeing this kind of thing in the Scriptures. What I do see is that there are things needed doing as the Lord carries on his agenda of redemption, and that he enables us with abilities as well as assignments as he pursues that agenda.

Paul made an interesting comment not quite in this regard, but interesting nonetheless (as he spoke of preaching without compensation), "For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward?" 1 Corinthians 9:16-18.

Serving the Lord should be a part of living our lives worthy of the Lord. Worthy of his character and nature. Worthy of his love of us, worthy of his Son dying on that miserable cross for our sins. Worthy of the inheritance he has awaiting us.

I appears to me that far from viewing my responsibilities before the Lord as tasks given me being subject to my own whims, I ought to jump at the opportunity provided me in displaying my love of the Lord, in displaying my reverence for the Lord in faithfully following through on what he has for me to do.

How about you? How do you feel about the assignments the Lord has provided you? Are you aware of what those are? As we have seen in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Peter 4, we all, as believers, have our assignments.

Just as the priests and Levites had their jobs, so do we, "
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:4-5.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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