Keep That Ablaze!
2 Timothy 1:5-7 (MSG)
That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.
When I worked at a newspaper, we routinely referred to a news report as a story. That doesn’t mean it was make-believe—despite the efforts of some politicians to foster distrust of the news media, reporters go to extremes to verify the factuality of their reports. Such news reports are called “stories” because they usually have all the marks of classic story structure, which simply focuses on people facing challenging circumstances that change them.
As I write this, the world has recently seen several true stories play out through the news, including the imposition of martial law in South Korea for six hours. Those stories included that of An Gwiryeong.
As parliamentarians scrambled to get inside the National Assembly building to reverse the emergency measure, video happened to capture the scene of Gwiryeong confronting a soldier trying to stop the lawmakers. She grabbed his automatic rifle and tried to tug it away while yelling “Aren’t you ashamed?” As the soldier backed away, he raised the rifle toward the woman. She grabbed it again as it was pointed at her chest, still yelling, before he turned and walked away.
She told the Associated Press, “I was scared because I’m just a human. But as I said, the thought that we must stop them was stronger than my fear.”
Passion doesn’t banish fear. It just overwhelms it. When we keep the gift of ministry ablaze, a gift we all have in some form, we can be bold, loving, and sensible in exercising those gifts.
Let’s pray together.
Father, when we get shy, we fear judgement from other humans. Shyness doesn’t come from you, though. Help us to remember the special gifts of ministry that DO come from you, and enable us to use them in service to those who need us. In the name of Christ we ask this, Amen.
This devotion was written and read by Donn King.
Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.
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First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.
