God has gifted me, so His name will be glorified

Matthew 13:51-52
“Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked
“Yes,” they replied.
He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

Do you understand or are you at one with the crowds? How important is it for us to understand the mysteries of the kingdom if we are going to instruct others and further the kingdom! The people of the church during this time were like scribes who drew from the storeroom of their Christian and pre-Christian knowledge new treasures and old. A scribe comes to Jesus with a lifetime of study of the law and of all its commandments. The background helps us understand. But after we have been taught be Jesus, you have the knowledge, not only of the things you used to know, but of things you never knew before, and even the knowledge which you had before is illuminated by what God has told to you. Christ does not come to erase all that we gained in life before we met him. He comes to enrich it. Every man comes to Jesus Christ with some gift and with some ability. Jesus didn’t ask that we give up our gifts. So many people think that when a man declares for Christ he must give things up and concentrate upon the so-called religious things.

But a…
Scholar does not give up his scholarship when he becomes a Christian: rather he uses it for Christ.

A business man need not give up his business; rather he should run it as a Christ would.

One who can sing, or dance, or act, or paint need not give up his art, but must use it like Christ would.

Here we see Jesus telling men, not to abandon their life, but to live it more wonderfully in the light of the knowledge which he has given us.

This was a final point that I gave in a talk with the high school a couple of weeks ago. This is a really important concept for us to understand I believe. When I first got this new job of being the youth pastor at the Blue Valley site I was very excited, but I found myself a little sad as well. I was a 3d computer animation major and I was sad because I thought I was losing my art. I thought with this new position that I wouldn’t be able to express myself anymore in the way of art. One of my favorite things to do is draw, and I felt like I had to move on from that and focus completely on being a “Youth Pastor”. Wrong!
When I spoke that Sunday about heaven I drew some pictures of heaven, to help the kids image what a great place it will be. (You can see some of the images in the post “Heaven it’s real…I’ve seen it!” Once I was done speaking people were leaving and one of the girls in the youth group asked if I had drawn the pics. I said yes, and she said that I shouldn’t stop doing art. I hadn’t told her about what I was feeling about losing my art, but that really spoke to me. Why would I ever stop drawing because I am a “Youth Pastor”. There is no reason! God will use that ability just like he has used me being able to relate well with kids, my humor, speaking ability etc. This isn’t a post on how awesome I am, but to encourage you guys to continue with the things that make you happy. Don’t become a Christian and give up your talents thinking God needs them, but instead realize that God gave you those talents and will use it for his glory.
So for me to rekindle that passion I once had for art I am deciding to draw one picture a week, and to keep art a real and valid way to do youth ministry. Here are some pictures that I drew a while back. Keep your passions, and desire for God. When your in his will, he will use you in new and exciting ways!