Gifts

I recently had the opportunity to see my wife baptized and my baby girl dedicated. I cannot tell you what a special day this was for me. I know that there is no Biblical reason to dedicate your baby, but it is a chance for my wife and I to go before our God and our friends to commit to raising our daughter in a Godly fashion. It is a commitment that both my wife and I do not take lightly. I cannot tell you the number of times that we have prayed that we allow Abigail to be the woman of God that she is intended to be. It is hard to say to God that you can use her, even if it that means she will not always be close (in proximity) to Erin and I.

Seeing Erin get baptized was surreal. It was surreal in the way that I never thought I would see it happen. Erin was baptized as an infant, but recently felt led to get baptized as an adult to show a sign of a decision that she made in her life. I am proud that she listened to God’s call on her life to get baptized. It was made even more special that Abigail was dedicated on the same day.

An unexpected gift came when our friend Mandy was also baptized. Mandy is the type of person that is perfect friend for Erin. Mandy is outgoing, a little wild yet very conscientious. Erin, by contrast, is more quiet and conservative (but she is also conscientious). Mandy has an amazing testimony and it was great that she could share in the day with us.

This got me to thinking about why God designs us all differently. We all have different gifts and abilities (Romans 12:6). We are supposed to use those gifts for the glory of God alone. In watching Erin and Mandy give their testimonies, it helped me to better understand how each one of them can use their testimony to reach different people. Mandy can relate to people Erin can’t and vice versa. This is true of each of us. God has designed us for His glory and will use us whatever way he sees fit.

Over the last couple of weeks on the blog, there have been a variety of authors and people commenting on the posts. While we are all different, we need to rest soundly in the fact that God is using each of us in a different manner to reach a different group of people. This is even the case for the folks on Christian television who sit in big gold chairs. They may be reaching a person that you or I could never reach. I appreciate the differences we share and ask that you celebrate God’s perfect plan to use us and our imperfections for His glory and his alone. Remember, even the rocks would cry out (Luke 19:40), but He chooses to use us.

Be His,
Jake