Spiritual Gifts and a Drive Shaft!

I remember back when I was 15 years old. I was riding my bike and saw an old car behind a body shop. I asked the owner of the shop what he was going to do with that old car. He told me that if I could figure a way to get it home; it was mine! A few hours, buddies and a tow chain later, I was the proud owner of a 1975 Trans Am! The car had a 400 engine that had a bad electrical fire so it was useless, the tranny was bad also. I remember finding a big 455 in a junk yard with a Turbo 400 behind it that I transplanted into the car.

Money is pretty tight when you are 15 and I made $97 a week working part time as a stock boy so needless to say this was a slow going project. Piece by piece I put the car back together until all I needed was a custom length drive shaft. In short, I never got the drive shaft made and the car just sat there until my dad got rid of it.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11:

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

The day we become a Christian; our birthday present is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Now this is no ordinary gift you see. It was never designed to be used by just the receiver. The gift is intended to be used by the body (Church) as a whole in the same way my car needed several parts before it could be used the way it was intended. I had an engine, I had a transmission I even had a car but without the drive shaft, I was just sitting in the drive way. In the same way, God blesses us with gifts of the spirit so that we may bless others. Combine all the gifts under one name (Jesus) and one church and God empowers a few lowly broken people like us to be bold, united yet diverse amazing parts of a powerful movement that changes lives, helps the needy, gives hope to the hopeless and reflects a sparkle of the Glory of Christ in the lives around us.

I know some of you reading this didn’t have a clue what a Turbo 400 is or why I needed a custom drive shaft but others of you know that the tail shaft on the tranny is longer so I needed a shorter drive shaft. You may not know what your gift is or how you could be used in the church. I implore you to read the instruction manual. I didn’t know how to work on cars until I read a few books; asked a little advice and most importantly started working on cars. Sure I messed up a few times but before long I was blue printing engines.

Reading the bible daily, seeking Godly advice and sincere praying will guide you to the answer of what your gift is and how to use it. Once you know, or even before… put it to use. Once the parts are all together, allow God’s nitro methane racing fuel to propel the whole car to victory in Christ!