HOW TO BE USEFUL TO THE LORD
CHAPTER SIX
WEEK 3 - THURSDAY
Scripture Reading: Eccl. 5:8-20
Read and pray: "He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity." (Eccl. 5:10)
FIVE QUESTIONS FOR OUR EXERCISE (2)
We must see that every saved person is someone the Lord can use. The Lord’s life is a life of serving, and the Lord’s life is manifested to us so that we may serve. However, our ability to serve often does not manifest. What is the reason for this? The reason is that the capacity to serve, which is inherent in the life within us, has not been developed. If, for the love of the Lord, all of us would once again submit ourselves, consecrate ourselves, give up our future, and be broken and disciplined, in less than a year, many among us would be manifested as called ones, as workers, elders, deacons, and as those engaged in business, earning money solely for the Lord.
All the problems lie in the fact that the life of service within us cannot gain ground and has no way to grow. In this situation, encouragement, teaching, and exhortation are useless. Instead, what we need to do is allow the life within us to find a way out and be released.
A certain brother from a wealthy family had followed the Lord for a long time and had also consecrated himself, but the function of life, the life of service, had not manifested in him. In the spring of 1948, around the time of the Chinese New Year, I arrived in Ku-lang-yu, and the brothers arranged for me to stay at this brother’s house. He had a very imposing Western-style mansion, and the hospitality toward me was wonderful. However, the most painful thing for me was that I had no one there with whom I could have fellowship. If it were not for the fact that the Lord’s grace had been established in me over the years, I probably would have felt lifeless.
In every cell of this brother’s being was money, and all he thought about was money. Sometimes he would take me on a short walk up the mountain, and along the way, he would ask me many questions, which he himself probably knew I could not answer. How can one converse with a person who lives for money? Nevertheless, since he was the host and I was the guest, it would have been impolite for me not to answer his questions, so I had to say something, even though I knew it was useless.
The crucial point of this story is that from that moment on, at least a few times in my prayers, I asked the Lord to remember that brother. I said, "Lord, this brother has received Your servants. He has received me and also some sisters from the work. Lord, You need to visit him. You need to do a work of grace in him."
Without a doubt, any worker would naturally pray such a prayer without needing to be exhorted. That brother was saved, sought the Lord, was interested in spiritual matters, and had no problem in church life, but the great problem was that he had been carried away by money and had become a safe deposit box. Thus, the life of Christ in him was restricted. For this reason, although he was saved and interested in spiritual things, the life of service could not manifest through him.
A sacrifice that was to be presented to God first had to be brought to the altar, then slain, cut into pieces, skinned, prepared in various ways, and finally consumed by fire and offered to God. Thus, all the procedures came after the sacrifice had been consecrated. In other words, our consecration can be considered the basis of how the Lord deals with us.
Why? According to simple reasoning, the Lord should have started dealing with us right after we were saved to begin manifesting Himself through us more and more. However, many of us did not accept or agree to this. Since the Lord never forces us to do anything, He tries to draw us and move us to consecrate ourselves and say, "Oh Lord, I accept Your discipline and Your breaking." Such a response from us is our consecration; our consecration is our response.
Enjoy More: Hymn 313
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