New Name, New Purpose
New Name, New Purpose
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.
Afew years ago, I ran a cake shop out of my house. As a cake decorator, I made thousands of cupcakes in my house. If you have ever made cupcakes, you know one of the messiest parts of the whole process is ladling the batter into the little paper cups. Trying to get the batter into the tiny cups without making a complete mess all over the pan can be a challenge! Miss the cupcake liner and you’ve got yourself a burned, caked-on mess to clean up after!
Loathing the clean-up process, I have tried numerous tricks to keep the mess at a minimum. Popular kitchen brands have created special accessories to make filling the little paper cupcake holders easier. Call me stubborn or cheap (or maybe both), but it has been my personal mission to avoid buying something and to be creative with what I already own.
In my fancy dish wear, I have a small silver gravy ladle. One year, it must have not gotten put back with the “dishware you only use once-a-year” and ended up among the mess of stuff we use daily. Without realizing it, I had been using it as a cupcake batter ladle for several months before my Mother-In-Law said “Oh, what a handy use for a gravy ladle! I bet you use this more as a cupcake ladle than a gravy ladle.”
The answer was a simple: “Yes, I do!” It’s been my go-to ever since.
But something about this conversation and “misuse” of a strangely curved kitchen spoon made me think of a deeper scenario. This gravy ladle, which probably came with an expensive glass gravy boat, sat for years being unused in our china hutch, waiting for that once-a-year Thanksgiving usage. The rest of the year, the gravy ladle sat with its counterpart, the glass gravy boat, waiting for the next major holiday to be called off the decorative china hutch shelf.
The original purpose of this little silver spoon was to pour steamy, hot, greasy, gravy over the top of my once-a-year turkey. To me, however, it became my cupcake batter ladle. Its new purpose is to pour cool, sugary, delicious batter into those silly little paper cups, so I can bake them and cover them with frosting and sprinkles. Its usefulness goes beyond Thanksgiving and became a vital piece to my cake business. The new name gave it a new purpose.
How often do we feel useless? How often do we feel like that ladle on the china hutch shelf? Maybe we are sitting back waiting to be used by God. We are waiting for something to come where we can fill that void. We are waiting for the sign that it’s our turn to step up.
The time is now! There is no need to sit collecting dust in the china hutch. Stop being the gravy ladle and waiting for that perfect moment to be used. Much like I use my cupcake batter ladle, your talents and gifts can be used TODAY. Like the above verse declares, God has given you gifts and talents for His purposes and we can use them for things that are happening right now.
God , You created us to be different and with different purposes “to equip [Your] people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Ephesians 4:12). Our gifts are not our own; they were given to us by You for Your purpose to be used for such a time as this. Help us to use them well.
God designed us to be different and to have different gifts and abilities. We have different purposes to carry out, even within our church. If we were all preaching the sermon, who would sing in the on the worship team? Who would volunteer in kid’s ministry? Who would greet the new guest walking into the building for the first time? Who would run the lighting? Who would make the coffee? EVERYONE has a job to do; unique and different, but for a purpose and ON purpose.
Are you using the gifts He’s given you? Now go start scoopin’ some batter!
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