I stood at my kitchen counter preparing my grocery list for Christmas. Normally, my grocery list is rather small, but this Christmas with my family, Mom and brother joining our festivities, it was sure to be much longer.
I looked through my fridge and cupboards for items that I had on hand and at the same time checked “best before dates.” I kicked into multi-tasking mode as I chucked half-empty bags of chips, partially empty salsa jars, mayo, and salad dressings. “My word,” I said to myself, “there’s nothing wrong with this stuff.”
Yet knowing my family, someone will pick up a bag of chips and yell, “Mom, this is old! The expiry date was 3 months ago!” The bag of chips will immediately land up in the garbage bin and be deemed non-edible.
In our throw away society, many things have a shelf life. Besides most food items, magazines, movies, and books have a shelf life. Few make it as classics with notable longevity.
Do our gifts and abilities have a shelf life? Do our God-given gifts come with a ‘best before” date? No! Thankfully God doesn’t operate by the terms of our ‘throw away society’. He has a plan and a purpose for us that fits into His larger plan for the world and His redemptive purposes. God will use many ways to grow and develop us, honing and expanding our gifts and abilities for greater use.
Like wine and cheese, the development of our gifts and abilities actually gets better in time. So don’t ‘shelf’ yourself. See 2010 as a gift – another year to allow God to work in and through moving you along to fulfill your divine purpose.
Your friend,
Margaret
Our gifts don't develop quite the same way as wine and cheese. Wine and cheese get better by sitting in darkness. We have to be using our gifts to defeat the darkness.
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