Morning By Morning #62

So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened.

1 Samuel 13:20

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

We are engaged in an intense war with the “Philistines” of evil, and every weapon within our reach must be used. Preaching, teaching, praying, and giving must all be brought into the battle, and even our talents and gifts thought to be too meager to be of any use must now be employed. Every tool, including “plowshares, mattocks, axes and sickles,” may all be useful in slaying “Philistines.” Even rough dull tools can deliver hard blows, for the killing doesn’t need to be fancy—just effective. Each moment of time, whether the optimum moment or not; each scrap of our ability, whether trained or not; each opportunity, whether favorable or not; must be used, for our foes are many and our forces are few.

Most of our tools need sharpening. We need ready discernment, tact, energy, promptness, and—in a word—complete conformity to the Lord’s work. Practical common sense is actually very uncommon among people leading Christian endeavors. We should learn some lessons from our enemies and thereby make the “Philistines” sharpen our weapons.

This morning may we learn to sharpen our zeal for battle through the help of the Holy Spirit. We can even look at the energy of the Roman Catholics and how they will cross seas and continents to make one convert to their faith. Are they to be the only people to show great zeal? Then take note of the heathen and how their devotees endure horrific torture in the service of their idols! Are they to be the only ones who exhibit patience and self-sacrifice?

Finally, observe the Prince of Darkness. Note how he perseveres in his endeavors, how unfazed he is by failed attempts, how daring he is in his plans, how thoroughly he has thought through his plots, and how energetic he is in everything he does! His demons were united as one person in their infamous rebellion against God, while we believers in Jesus are often divided in our service for Him, rarely working with true unanimity.

Oh, that we may learn from Satan’s hellish industriousness as he “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). May we instead walk around like good Samaritans, looking for someone to bless!

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

The Lord gives every believer gifts to be used in His service—“gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” (Heb. 2:4). We see from this that it is the Lord who determines which gift or gifts each of us will receive. And although “God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29), they must, nevertheless, be sharpened or honed. Paul encourages us to “try to excel in gifts that build up the church” (1 Cor. 14:12).

Thus, we are to use our God-given gifts to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ, in fighting evil in the world, in sharing the gospel with the lost, and in helping anyone who needs a touch from the Lord through us. But we must be ready, and the only way to be ready is to use our gifts. It may seem awkward at first, but as we use them God will hone them—and we may even see our enemies being used as the sharpener!