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As I now approach my 82nd birthday,
the body is weakening, and
the mind is not as
sharp. I expect I am like so many
others who wonder, “am I too old now
to do a work for God?” The answer
is no, for while we have life and
clarity of mind, we can still pray
to God and rejoice He is the prayer
hearing and answering God.
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Moses was eighty years of age when
he had his encounter with God.
Jacob was quite an elderly man,
possibly around 60 years of age.
Abraham was close to 100 when Issac
was born. Zacharias and Elizabeth
were elderly when John the Baptist
was born. What an encouragement
this is now to many of us who are
elderly. Can God still use us? Is
life too far gone for us old age
pensioners to do a work for God? In
no way! Moses may have thought he
had destroyed God’s purposes for his
life by the act of killing the
Egyptian. Jacob may have thought he
was no use to God, or that God would
never use him with his twisted
conniving nature. Zachariah and
Elizabeth may have naturally
accepted the fact they would never
have a child and Abraham and Sarah
were the same. Three matters are
clear: |
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a) |
We are never too old for God to use. |
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b) |
Despite our past failures, sins, or
misunderstandings of the will of God
for our lives, the fact we are alive
is God’s assurance our work for Him
has not gone beyond the point of no
return. |
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c) |
We are never too old to have an
encounter
with God. Every individual saved by
God’s great salvation enters a
family and a school. The school is
the training of the individual for
the work God had designed for them,
but the family is the learning
of conformity to the Father and the
Lord. |
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It may be an individual can think
who am I to think about serving
God? What could I do that would be
a blessing to others? This was the
reaction of Moses when God called
him to do his greatest work. |
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a) |
When we think of Moses, we consider
him as a great man, and that he
was. However, to the Israelites and
the Egyptians he was a nomad who
wandered across the desert and
declared to the children of Israel
that God was going to release them
and demanded of Pharaoh to let them
go. The natural reaction of the
Prince of Egypt was contempt (Ex
5:2). The Egyptians had some 2000
gods and goddesses, so who was
Moses’ God to make demands of
Pharaoh who was seen as a god to the
Egyptians? To the average
individual he was just a shepherd
despised by the Egyptians. An
individual may see themselves as
nothings but God did not saved them
to sit and do nothing. His desire
is for them to work with Him for the
glory of Christ. |
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In our spiritual education, every
work undertaken for the glory of God
and honouring of the Lord begins
with an encounter with the living
God, primarily at the moment of
salvation. From that point the
individual has the responsibility to
work with the Holy Spirit in
developing God and Christ likeness.
In gratitude they may desire to do a
work for God. They begin a very
solemn responsibility whether the
work is a Sunday School teacher, the
janitor of the building or the
person responsible for setting up
the electronics etc. It carries
responsibility before God. |
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One of the most serious acts of
service is that of being a spiritual
leader for at least two reasons: |
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a) |
Because others are accepting what is
said as truth. |
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b) |
The individual will be held
accountable by the Lord for how they
fulfilled the responsibilities
associated with the work (Lk.
19:12-26; Jam. 3:1). |
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Working with God to bring saints to
spiritual maturity is not to be
taken lightly. The flock must be
cared for and fed spiritually as the
spiritual leaders spiritually exhort
the people of God. The purpose is
spiritual maturity by the truths
found in the Word of God and
exalting the person of Christ and
His work. |
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a) |
This must never be an accepted
responsibility because someone asked
an individual to be a leader. It is
a responsibility for the individual
to be assured from God, that it is
the Holy Spirit who is promoting the
exercise and not the “because there
is no one else to do it”. I have
been appalled in my sixty six years
among the people of God when an
individual has been appointed and
telling the church so in so is now a
member of the oversight, even though
they are void of spiritual
maturity. At times the gathered
saints are told someone’s buddy or
relative, who does not have the
qualifications, is told is a
spiritual leader and the saints are
expected to follow unquestioningly.
Most times it ends in the ruination
of the local church. The work of
God comes with serious
responsibilities and humility. When
the Lord called Moses he did not see
himself as the leader of the people
of God and put up several objections
to doing the work. I suggest he was
unaware of the fact that for 80
years God had been preparing him. |
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In giving the command to “let my
people go” (Ex. 5:1; 7:16; 8:1;
9:1), in so doing there is the
unspoken acknowledgment that Moses’
God is superior to Pharaoh and the
gods of Egypt and posed a major
question,“How can a satanically
darkened mind and stubborn prideful
heart be broken to the point where
it yields to God?” God also had
Moses inform Pharaoh some of the
consequences if he would not let
them go (Ex. 8:21; 10:4) and almost
pleaded with Pharaoh to let them go
(Ex 10:1). |
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There’s
a work for Jesus, ready at your
hand,
’Tis
a task the Master just for you has
planned.
Haste to do His bidding, yield Him
service true;
There’s
a work for Jesus none but you can
do. |
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Refrain:
Work for Jesus, day by day,
Serve Him ever, falter never; Christ
obey.
Yield Him service loyal, true,
There’s
a work for Jesus none but you can do |
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There’s
a work for Jesus, humble though it
be,
’Tis
the very service He would ask of
thee.
Go where fields are whitened, and
the lab’rers
few;
There’s
a work for Jesus none but you can
do. |
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There’s
a work for Jesus, precious souls to
bring,
Tell them of His mercies, tell them
of your King.
Faint not, nor grow weary, He will
strength renew;
There’s
a work for Jesus none but you can
do. |
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. . . .Rowan Jennings |
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