Why Your Gift Makes Room For You

In Proverbs 18:16, it reads, "A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men."  As I've heard this verse of scripture both preached and taught throughout my life, what I heard (and in some cases read) explained "a man's gift" here as an individual's innate ability to excel at various exploits.  The idea was that GOD has placed something special within you that is purposed to bring you before people of great influence and renown.  With that said, if you so desired to be great, you would then discover what gifts you possess and cultivate them to the extent that the excellence you embody when exercising them, in turn, becomes a platform upon which you can prosper.  It's a great concept that makes perfect sense!  If I may, however, allow me to share with you a little something extra I just learned regarding this...

As I researched the terms in this particular verse of scripture, I noticed that the word translated as "gift" in Proverbs 18:16 is the Hebrew word "mattan" (pronounced "mat-TAWN").  It means "a present".  In considering this information, the verse immediately took on a whole new meaning to me.  As I see it, when you aim to sit among people of greatness, it is the gift you bring that makes room for you to be in their company.  In other words, time is an extremely valuable resource; and influential people are in no way obligated to give their time to anyone, especially those who do not value it.  Their knowledge, wisdom, and feedback often comes at the expense of the failures, mistakes and setbacks they have experienced along life's way.  Out of respect for all it took for them to ascend from the bottom to their places among the top within their areas of influence, you just can't glean from them FOR NOTHING.

Power Belongs To The Responsible

I was reminded last week of something my good friend and brother Prophet William L. Johnson II shared in a teaching a couple of years ago: "Power belongs to the responsible."  That statement really stood out amongst all he shared in that particular evening of revival, and it arrests my attention even now as I ponder over who power belongs to.  If you have ever taken a Physics course, then you're most likely familiar with the idea that power is the ability to do work.  Not just something that lies dormant, it is a force that enables the empowered entity to fulfill some degree of purpose. Therefore, power is only as valuable as the work it actually accomplishes. It makes no sense to possess power if it results in nothing purposeful. And let's be frank here: irresponsible people lack a sense of purpose.

In the hands of irresponsible people, power becomes abused (or "ABnormally USED").  As my favorite teacher, Dr. Myles Munroe, has said, "Where purpose is NOT known, abuse is inevitable."  Irresponsible people do not seek to understand purpose because it requires too much of them.  And without an understanding of purpose, people are totally clueless as to how they should respond to anything.  Furthermore, if responsibility indeed be the ability to respond, then why should supernatural power be entrusted to those who fail to appropriately exercise the limited ability they've already been given to favorably respond to life's demands?  It makes zero sense whatsoever...

How Worship Births The Unimagineable

It is amazing how we find ourselves in situations with GOD that surpass our understanding.  If you may recall, the Bible shares with us that the highly fragrant perfume in Mary Magdalene's alabaster box was valued at "three hundred denarii" (John 12:5), which is approximately a year's wages for a common worker.  When Mary took it upon herself to throw custom out of the window and break open this box, it was ironically the disciples of Jesus who criticized her--particularly Judas.  They were appalled that she would pour this costly perfume on Him because--TO THEM--its value was "ONLY" a year's wages and what good THEY felt could be accomplished had it been sold.

Now according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage for U.S. workers in the fourth quarter of 2016 was $849 per week or $44,148 per year.  So you're probably wondering, "What DOES he mean by 'ONLY' a year's wages?"  After all, most of us have probably NEVER given a single monetary offering of this magnitude to anyone, let alone our Redeemer.  So seen from THIS context, the disciples' reaction to Mary Magdalene's actions doesn't seem so far-fetched.  However, her act of love and appreciation for Messiah signified so much more.  It was an act of worship...  But not just ANY act of worship.

The worship Mary Magdalene offered carried a value that far surpassed the fair market value of the pound of spikenard oil in that alabaster box.  One might even imagine that--in her mind--the oil's value paled in comparison to that of Him who had raised her brother Lazarus from the dead.  Widely noted as Messiah's greatest miracle, the coming forth of Lazarus in his grave clothes was nothing less than astonishing because he had been dead for four days.  And with saying all that, EVEN SHE--in her expression of immense gratitude--had no idea that she was anointing Messiah's body for HIS ultimate act of worship: Calvary.