Grace Evangelical Society

P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202
  • About
    • Home
    • Beliefs
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
  • Resources
    • Grace in Focus Blog
    • Grace in Focus International Blogs
    • Grace in Focus Radio
    • Grace in Focus Magazine
    • Free eBooks
    • Journal of the GES
    • Book Reviews
    • Partners in Grace Newsletter
    • Audio Messages
    • Videos
    • Email Subscription
    • Bookstore
    • Online Tracts
  • Store
    • Main Page
    • On Sale
    • Return Policy
    • Your Cart
    • Your Account
  • Events
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Free Grace Church and Bible Study Tracker
    • Free Grace Jobs
    • Ministry Links
  • Donate
    • One Time Donation
    • Monthly Donation
    • Your Account
  • Search
Home
→
Blog
→
Are You Usable? (Hebrews 5:12)

Are You Usable? (Hebrews 5:12)

October 8, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Hebrews, service, spiritual maturity, teaching

Have you ever prayed for God to use you?

Maybe you shouldn’t.

Maybe there’s something you need to be asking yourself first. As Samuel Brengle put it,

“Instead of praying so much to be used, people should search themselves to know whether they are usable” (Helps to Holiness, p.69).

Are you usable?

The author of Hebrews complained that his readers were not usable:

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food (Heb 5:12).

They should have been teachers, but they still needed to be taught. They should have been able to serve but were not ready. And it was their responsibility to be ready.

I once heard a preacher tell of asking a woman in his congregation to teach Sunday school for children. She was in her sixties and had been going to that church for nearly forty years.

She refused.

She insisted she couldn’t teach the class. “Pastor, I couldn’t do it. I need to be fed. I have so much more to learn.”

The pastor persisted. He assured her that she was quite capable of teaching a children’s Sunday school class. But she refused again. “No, I couldn’t. I need to be fed.”

At that point, the pastor grew angry and said firmly, “If you can’t teach a children’s class, then find another church to attend next Sunday.”

“But I’ve been coming here for forty years!”

“And if you haven’t grown enough here in forty years to teach a Sunday school class, you better find a church where you will.”

How many opportunities for service have you missed because you were not usable? Are you willing to change?

Subscribe by Email

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
Shawn_L

by Shawn Lazar

Shawn Lazar (BTh, McGill; MA, VU Amsterdam) was the Editor of Grace in Focus magazine and Director of Publications for Grace Evangelical Society from May 2012 through June 2022. He and his wife Abby have three children. He has written several books including: Beyond Doubt: How to Be Sure of Your Salvation and Chosen to Serve: Why Divine Election Is to Service, Not to Eternal Life.

If you wish to ask a question about a given blog, email us your question at ges@faithalone.org.

Cart

Recently Added

February 2, 2023

Romans–Part 04–The Problem

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Ken Yates and Kathryn Wright continue this short series about Romans. Jumping to Chapter 3, they begin with...
February 2, 2023

Are Believers Today Under the New Covenant? 

A pastor friend whom I’ll call Dave has been studying the New Covenant lately. We’ve had a few excellent conversations about it. I thought I’d...
February 1, 2023

Romans–Part 03–Wrath

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Kathryn Wright and Ken Yates are continuing their discussion of the book of Romans. How is the book...

Grace in Focus Radio

All Episodes

Listen to Stitcher

Listen on Spotify

Grace In Focus Magazine

Grace In Focus is sent to subscribers in the United States free of charge.

Subscribe for Free

The primary source of Grace Evangelical Society's funding is through charitable contributions. GES uses all contributions and proceeds from the sales of our resources to further the gospel of grace in the United States and abroad.

Donate

Bookstore Specials

  • Grace in Eclipse: A Study in Eternal Rewards (Second Edition) $15.00 $8.00
  • Here Walks My Enemy: The Story of Luis (Hardcover) $13.95 $5.00
  • The Journey of Faith $15.00 $9.00
  • Grudem Against Grace: A Defense of Free Grace Theology $15.00 $10.00
  • Confident in Christ, 2nd Edition $22.00 $5.00
Grace Evangelical Society

(940) 270-8827 / ges@faithalone.org

4851 S I-35E Suite 203, Corinth, TX 76210
P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube