Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

ONLY A CANDLE An old legend tells of a small candle that lay on a high shelf in a lighthouse, unnoticed and half-forgotten. One day, the keeper came and took it from its resting place and carried the candle up a long flight of stairs. "Where are you taking me?" asked the candle. "To show great ships the way across the sea," was the answer. "But no ship could possibly see my little flame," protested the little candle. "Leave that to me," said the keeper as he carefully lit the lighthouse beacon with the candle's little flame. There is a human tendency in all of us to feel unimportant if our work is insignificant in human eyes. This is something which Paul writes about. He explains that there are many gifts and operations of the Spirit. Then he declares they are all of God, and he affirms each is very important to the work of the church. One translation states: In each of us the Spirit is manifested in one particular way, for some useful purpose (The New English Bible). Today, we should take heart even when it seems our gift is the smallest of all. God can take what we have and make something great of it. None is unimportant in the eyes of God. Your gift, in the divine plan of God, may be that little flame that starts a mighty fire of revival across the world. Paul reminds us: But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all (1 Corinthians 12:7).