Needing to be stirred up

There are many kinds of gifts. All Christians have some gift. Some may have but one talent, but all have one at the least. The Great Householder has apportioned to every servant a talent. No single part of a vital body is without its office. True, there are some parts of the body whose office has not been discovered; even the physician and the anatomist have not been able to tell why certain organs are in the human frame, or what office they serve, but as even these are found to be necessary, we are quite sure that they fulfill some useful purpose. Truly, there are some Christians who might be put in that category: it might puzzle anybody to know what they are capable of; and yet it is certain they have some charge committed to them to keep, and that, if true believers, they are essential parts of the body of Christ.

As every beast, bird, fish, and insect, has its own place in nature, so has every Christian a fit position in the economy of grace. No tree, no plant, no weed, could be dispensed with without injury to nature’s perfectness; neither can any sort of gift or grace be lost to the church without injury to her completeness. Every living saint has his charge to keep — his talent, over which he is a steward. A measure of gift is in all of us, needing to be stirred up.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Our Gifts And How To Use Them." Image by shioshvili on Flickr under Creative Commons License.