Yahweh has bestowed upon each believer certain spiritual gifts. And while there are diversities of gifts, diversities of administrations, and diversities of workings, it is the same Spirit that distributes the gifts, according to Yahweh’s own will (1 Cor. 12:4-7). These gifts are important – otherwise, Yahweh wouldn’t have given them – and we are to use them. Yahweh didn’t give them so that the recipient can put them on a shelf somewhere, to be admired from afar. Rather, He gave them for a specific purpose – for the building up of the Body of Messiah (Eph. 4:11-16, 1 Cor 14:12). To do that we must have or develop a heart to work.
Each and every one of us has a high calling upon our individual lives (Php. 3:14). We’ve got to press toward that goal and lay hold of the prize. We’ve got to walk worthy of that calling (Eph. 4:1).
Ignorance Isn’t Bliss
You can’t walk in Truth to which you haven’t laid hold. 1 Cor 12:1 tells us explicitly, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not wish to have you ignorant.” So first and foremost we must have a clear understanding of what the spiritual gifts are. Once we have that understanding, then we need to focus not only on identifying what our specific, personal spiritual gifts are; we must learn to appreciate ALL of the gifts within the Body. And we must strive to optimize through use the ones we have received, encouraging our brothers and sisters in Messiah to do the same.
The apostle Paul exhorted Timothy, “Neglect not the gift that is in you, which was given you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery” (1 Tim. 4:14). Yahweh is saying the same thing to each and every one of us today – don’t neglect the spiritual gifts that you have been given. That brings to mind Yahshua’s parable of the talents – he who is faithful over a little will be given more; he who is unfaithful over a little will lose even that which he has. We must be faithful stewards of the spiritual gifts with which Yahweh has equipped us, ministering them among ourselves (1 Pet. 4:7-11).
Each of us has a ministry in the world in which we live – in our daily lives. But each of us also has a ministry in the House of Prayer, that part of the Body to which Yahweh has joined us. Psa. 127:1a tells us that “Unless Yahweh builds the house, they labor in vain that build it.”
It’s Yahweh-Yahshua who is building His house (Matt 16:18, Eph. 2:19-22), but we are His hands and feet in this earth. We are His workmanship (Eph. 2:10), but we are also His workmen (2 Tim. 2:15). Proverbs 24:27 instructs us, “Prepare your work without, and make it fit for yourself in the field; and afterwards build your house.”
Stirred Up to Work and to Give
If you read through the description in Exodus 35-36 about the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness by the Israelites, you might be struck – as I was – by the incredible attitude of cooperation among the people … and the fact that their hearts were stirred to WORK and to GIVE to the work. “And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and brought Yahweh’s offering, for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all the service of it…” (Ex. 35:21).
Moses and the elders proceeded to take up the offering from the people, and the people gave so much that the elders had to tell Moses “the people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which Yahweh commanded to make” (Exod 36:2-5). Because of this, Moses actually had to order a halt to these freewill offerings. “For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much” (v7).
Yes, these were material offerings to do a material work; yet the people were also freely offering of themselves for the work of service. And those gifted in different areas were contributing their gifts to the same work.
Be Strong and Work
We find an interesting parallel in the book of Haggai, where Yahweh exhorts His people to consider their ways and to build His house (1:5, 7-9). Again, Yahweh stirs up the spirits “of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work on the house of Yahweh of hosts, their Elohim” (v14). In the following chapter, Yahweh speaks words of encouragement to Zerubbabel, Yahshua, and all the people of the land, saying, “be strong … and work: for I am with you” (Hagg 2:4).
Just prior to His ascension to heaven, Yahshua Messiah exhorted His disciples to build His house by making disciples of all nations. He immediately followed that command with, “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:16-20). This is more than a little reminiscent of what Yahweh told the remnant of His people through the prophet Haggai. Yahweh also promised that same remnant that, though none of them might have seen His house in its former glory, yet the latter glory of the house that He is building will be greater than the former, and that – in that place – He will give peace (Hagg. 2:3, 7-9). That day is coming!
That’s an awesome promise! The house that Yahshua is building in these last days will far exceed the former glory of that first temple. And Yahweh WILL give us peace. The question that we must ask ourselves is – do we truly have a heart to work? Yahweh is still telling us today, “Be strong and work, for I am with you. Don’t neglect the gifts that I have given you.”