USE AND DEPLOY YOUR ABILITY

Ability is defined by dictionary as the quality or state of being able; capacity to do or of doing something; having the necessary power. It also means physical power; Financial ability, a unique power of the mind; a faculty and  skill or competence in doing; mental power; talent; aptitude. It is synonymous with capacity, faculty, and capability.

Exo 36:1-8 KJV 1 Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the LORD put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD had commanded. 2 And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it: 3 And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning. 4 And all the wise men, who wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came to every man from his work which they made; 5 And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make. 6 And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. 7 For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much. 8 And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them.

God called Moses to the mount and showed him the blueprint or building plan for the tabernacle. Moses was not a builder, he was a shepherd. So how will Moses build. God solved the problem. He gave Moses men that will help him achieve His purpose.

God will always support, provide and source the vision He authored. Where there is vision, there will always be provision.

Exo 31:1-6 KJV 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, 5 And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. 6 And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;

God gave Bazaleel and Aholiab wisdom, understanding and knowledge in craftsmanship and metallic design. Whatever you have now is a gift from God. You might have gone for training, skill acquisition, school, got OND, HND, BSC, etc. But God put the seed there. It was given to you, you didn’t earn it. It was not because you were the most intelligent, beautiful, meticulous but it was by grace.

What was the purpose of the gifts given unto Bazaleel and Aholiab?

Exo 36:1 KJV Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the LORD put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD had commanded.

It was for the service of the sanctuary.Ladies and gentlemen, God gave us our abilities, gifts PRIMARILY for the sake of the kingdom, to enhance the kingdom, advance and project the kingdom.

In order words, it is for the Gospel sake. It was for the glory of God. God gave you those abilities to promote the kingdom and for His sake.

Secondarily, they are to bless you when you improve them, making you prosper, rich, and be a blessing to other people. But primarily, it was for His own purpose Just like He gave Bezaleel understanding and wisdom for the  work of the sanctuary

WHAT TO DO WITH THE GIFTS

1Pet 4:10 KJV As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

We are stewards or managers of God’s manifold grace. We are not the owner but caretakers and we will eventually give account of what has been deposited for us.

Remember the story of the servants whose master gave them talents,

Mat 25:15 KJV And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

The man with five improved on it and gained five extra, the man with two did the same and gained two extra but the man with one went and buried his talent and brought it when the master came.  He was punished as an unprofitable servant. His talent was taken from him and given to the man with ten talents.

Many of our youths today are like the man with one talent, you cover up. Here you can dance, pray, teach, sing, do one thing or the other but when you come to church, you become paranoid, mouth closed and wile away time in the church. You are just like the guy with one talent.

Peter said as every man has received the gift. Every man, none can say “I don’t have any gift, i can’t do anything”. You can just discover your gift and don’t wait for the Pastor to beg you to be proactive in the church.

Apostle has some advice

For young guys

1Cor 7:32-33 KJV 32 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: 33 But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.

For young ladies

1Cor 7:34 KJV There is differencealso between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

Paul was saying before some man started giving you decree in the house:”don’t go to fellowship again”, “don’t go to that church again”, “why are you coming back late from the church or you want to go and marry your pastor?”. Paul said, use this period now to serve the Lord.

Some of our unmarried ladies are so carried away with the challenge and will not do anything in the church again, they are angry with God, Pastor and the church, itself. But Paul says use that period of waiting for Mr Right or Miss Right to serve the Lord

YOUTHFULNESS DOESN’T LAST FOREVER

Ecc 12:1 KJV Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

Now that you have the ability, utilize it, deploy it. A time is coming when you will want to do certain things but you won’t have the strength or ability to do them. Now you can trek, walk briskly, a time is coming when you will be walking with a walking stick.

In the last all night service, one of our ushers was standing virtually throughout the night making sure nobody slept off. May God bless that guy. While many of us were snoring on our beds, he was walking up and down. He was as tired as you were because he went to work that very day too but managed to come and functioned. Solomon says remember the Lord in the days of thy youth.. Our theme is a purposeful lifestyle.

When I was a corper, the ID card gave me access to many places. I introduced myself as Felix and a youth corper and they will allow me into the prison and hospital ward effortlessly. After youth service, I couldn’t use the ID card again and so I couldn’t gain access to prison.

But you see, when I was a corper I could go anytime. Today I can’t go there and say I am Felix Youth corper. I would be arrested for impersonation. That opportunity and advantage was over.

Hello our Dominion corper, utilize your grace now. effectively so when you look back, you will smile that you used your youthful stage very well. I didn’t regret mine. You won’t regret yours in Jesus name.

For all of us, use your grace.

Service involves deploying your capability for the service of the kingdom. It is not proper that you have the ability to do certain things and you are only using it to make money for personal consumption.

If you can do anything that can advance the kingdom of God, don’t just do it to promote yourself and the world but utilize it for the kingdom’s sake.

There are three forms of abilities: physical, mental and spiritual.

Physical ability is when you deploy your physical strength to do manual work in the house of God like cleaning, arranging chairs and taking care of things.

Mental ability is when you use your intelligence and mental disposition to help stay for instance in the accounting section now. You can do mathematics or accounting very well, you shouldn’t wait for Pastor to call on you but you voluntarily help to prepare an accounting report.

Spiritual ability is when you utilise the gifts you have received in ministering. 1Cor 12: 7 says the manifestation of the spirit is given to everyone to profit withal. Pray for people,intercede for them, lay hands on the sick, speak in tongues.

don’t just be bench warmer in the church as a youth. Bring your friends and relation to church.

CONCLUSION:

Ecc 11:9 KJV Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

It is in the order of a most gracious God, that the young should rejoice in their youth; but they should make such a moderate use of all their enjoyments, that they may not be confounded in the day of judgment. But, O young man, if thou wilt follow the propensities of thy own heart, the noisy mirth of the fool, and the dissipation of the profligate-go on; take thy full swing; but take this with thee, that “for all these things, God will judge thee;”

We will all stand before the judgement seat of Christ to receive rewards, we will be rewarded based on what we did with our talents and gifts.