From Laurie Beth Jones

Business consultant Laurie Beth Jones is one of my favorite authors. Her books are practical, inspiring, and down-to-earth. Sometimes, I find her interpretations of some passages of Scripture, shall we say, different. But, on the whole, I think she has so much to offer to people who want to find and employ their strengths toward living lives of meaningful contribution to the world.

I've been reading her, Jesus, Life Coach, and this evening, ran across her observations on Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, the subject of my message here:

Every temptation that Jesus faced in the wilderness was related to his higher gifts.

Could he have turned stones into bread when he was so hungry? Yes. But he didn't. In every case where he was called to use his higher gifts for a lesser purpose, Jesus refused. That restraint allowed him to use his gifts in their highest form.

Jesus determined that he would not use his higher gifts for selfish purposes. Yet he also determined that he would indeed use them.

This caused me to ask myself, How am I using my God-granted gifts? And, Will I ask God to help me to discover and use my gifts, not in selfish ways, but to their highest purpose?