Tuesday, October 6, 2009

What are you good for? When George Washington Carver asked that question of the lowly peanut, he discovered anywhere from 100 to 300 uses. They ranged from food products (peanut butter, candy bars, cooking oil, instant coffee, sausage, meat substitute) to stock feed, from dyes and paints to medicines, wood filler to paper to laundry soap. They are used as an ingredient in dynamite and nitroglycerine. They can be made into gasoline and diesel fuel (and would probably smell better in use than either of those). When Carver was born in Missouri sometime in 1864, the peanut had been known and used for hundreds of years, but it took a man of faith to see beyond its snack value and uncover its potential.
Jesus was always discovering potential where others only saw problems. Zaccheus, the woman at the well, Mary Magdelene, Lazarus, Matthew were all damaged people. The religious authorities of His day were stuck in the mindset of condemnation. Their focus was on the cause and criticism of the problem, not its redemption, but the Jesus who saw the spiritual significance of the mustard seed also sees the spiritual significance of each of His children.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Eph 2:10

What are you good for? When the Master Craftsman asks that of you, what will He discover, someone who is hiding their talent in a napkin or someone who is investing that talent as if everything depended on it? None of us want to be on the wrong end of that conversation, but it remains for us to do something about it. Discover the value of the Gifts of God in your life. Put them into practice and unlock the “peanut potential” that lies in His provision and revelation.