God Speaking

“But your hearts must be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time”

(1 Kings 8:61)

A few months ago, our city police force was replacing the head of the whole detachment and because of the importance of this job and the huge responsibilities attached to such position, a special public ceremony was planned in which the chosen person stood in front of peers and dignitaries and was officially commissioned and part of the proceedings involved a solemn declaration to uphold, in every sense, the responsibilities being undertaken. I was thinking about this ceremony, when last Sunday there was an announcement that two young people from our congregation were leaving on a short term mission trip and after explaining to us the nature of the trip, our Pastor asked them to come forward to be commissioned and he laid hands upon them and prayed for them.

At the end of the service our Pastor reminded us that it is not only those who volunteer for missions, but as followers of Jesus, we are all commissioned by the Holy Spirit for service.

When I looked up in the dictionary what commissioned meant, I grasped what an incredible honour it was to be considered worthy of this calling. One of the meanings is;

Authority given to act as an agent for another.

What an amazing privilege to represent Jesus in our daily life! As an agent we are free to tell others of his great love and to pave the way for others to find him. As his agents we will be reflecting the joy it is to know him in whatever situation we find ourselves.

As I continued to read the definitions I realised that acting as an agent meant quite a bit of input on our part. Another definition reads;

Commit to entrust oneself to a cause.

When we entrust ourselves to another we are virtually accepting the other person’s values. God’s values are found in his word and Paul reminds his readers that these precious words have been entrusted to us;

“On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel” (1 Thessalonians 2:4)

The third definition I read about being commissioned was perhaps the most defining;

To act in a prescribed manner

Jesus summed up what this meant when he was asked about the law and summed it up this way;

“A new command I give you; Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34 – 35)

What wonderful words to hang on to as we listen to the Royal commissioning from above. Being an agent of love seems to me a very fulfilling role and what an honour is bestowed upon us as we gratefully accept.