Second Friend Day - Elmer Towns

faithfully received others. You may have three talents: teaching, giving money, and
administration. God expects you to do the very best possible with those three talents.
But then again, every talent gets different results. Paul places them in order, noting, "God
hath set some in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers" (I Cor. 12:28). The
fact that the gifts are numbered means that some are more important (or more effective) than
others.
No wonder some people have difficulty finding their spiritual gifts if no two people have
the same gifts and they are numbered in priority. The natural question you may ask is, "How can
I find my spiritual gift?"
1. Since a gift is the evidence of the Holy Spirit, you must be in tune with Him. A
spiritual gift may be a natural gift with the Holy Spirit working through it. Paul describes a
spiritual gift as "the manifestation of the Spirit" (I Cor. 12:7). A young lady may sing beautifully
with all the training that a rich, natural voice displays, yet make no spiritual impact in the hearers.
The next young lady might have a simple voice with little training, yet when she sings the Holy
Spirit draws people closer to Christ. The first girl does not have a spiritual gift, whereas the
second does.
Your spiritual gift is manifested when you are filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:17), which is
allowing the Holy Spirit to work through you. Those who are filled have separated themselves
from sin and yielded their lives for service.
2. The Holy Spirit placed embryonic gifts in you when you were saved. Many things
happened in your life when you received Jesus Christ. One of them was the Holy Spirit coming
into your life to give you abilities to serve God. The giving of gifts is tied to salvation. "When
he (Christ) ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men" (Eph. 4:8).
This verse is tied with the resurrection, the point of victory in Christ's death. In that victory He
gave abilities to His followers so that they in turn could be victorious in service. At the moment
of your salvation, this gift was placed in your heart, although not fully developed.
A pastor looking out on a group of teenagers doesn't know which one will be a
missionary, doctor, accountant, or housewife. They all have different gifts for potential service.
Some will find God's will and serve Christ effectively, others will choke out their spiritual
strength. Since you have a spiritual gift, pray for wisdom to develop it.
3. You find your gift by doing the tasks at hand. The Bible teaches "Whatsoever thy
hand findeth to do, do it with thy might" (Ecc. 9-10). This means we are to give instant
obedience to service, especially when the opportunity arises. If there is an emergency and a
Sunday School teacher is needed, go do the best job you can. Don't ask, "Is my gift teaching?"
When someone is needed to help set up chairs at the church, don't ask "Is this my gift?"
Obviously this principle can't be applied in every instance. If the piano player is not
there, you can’t play without training. The same goes for singing a solo. Then, too, people won't
ask you to do what they know you're unable to do.