Are You a Star or a Candle?
In the church, there are stars and candles which God uses to
illuminate the world. The stars are usually the big names in the ministry while
the candles are the church members that are often not recognized. The stars are
usually few while the candles are many. The stars shine at a time while the
candles shine all the time. During storms, the stars cannot be seen but the
candles glow during storms. Where you see a star, the candles gather around it,
but the star receives all the praise most of the time.
God is not interested in your status, big names or high
sounding titles in the church or ministry. He is interested in the service that
you render and no service is little or menial in the Body of Christ. As far as
God is concerned, the cleaner who is diligent and faithful in his service will
be rated and rewarded better than a pulpit pastor who is not diligent and not
faithful to God in his duties. God rewards those who seek Him diligently.
In 1 Samuel 13 & 14, is the account of King Saul, his
son Jonathan and Jonathan’s armour bearer in a battle with the Philistines. In
the story, King Saul and Jonathan were the stars while the armour bearer was
the candle. King Saul, a tested warrior and a star had backslid and was fearful
but his son Jonathan took the military challenge by faith (1 Samuel 13:6-7) (1
Samuel 14:6).
But Jonathan’s armour bearer, who was a candle, was also a
man of faith. He said to his master, ‘do all that is in thine heart, turn thee:
behold, I am with thee according to thy heart (1 Samuel 14:7).’ He was willing
to follow his master, Jonathan in any venture. Are you willing to support your
church pastor or group leader in any venture?
In the Israelite army of those days, there were few swords.
In fact, only King Saul and Jonathan had swords for battle (1 Samuel 13:22).
Your pastor or leader is like Jonathan carrying a sword. The church members are
the armour bearers supporting the pastorate or group leaders. To have
co-workers in the vineyard who can say, ‘I am with you as long as you are in
God’s will’ is great relief in times of stress and crisis.
Are you still supporting your Jonathan or have you turned
back from following him? Or have you joined those who backbite, who write
petitions and lead satanic inspired conspiracies to pull down and discredit
their Jonathan? It is important to always support your Jonathan who knows how
to go into the battle.
God used only 2 persons –Jonathan and the armour bearer – to
defeat and scatter a better equipped Philistine army (1 Samuel 14:6-16). This
story shows that God uses both stars and candles for His glory. It is not only
the Jonathans (stars) that can use the sword to kill. The armour bearer also
participated in the slaughter of the Philistines, using the second sword which
King Saul was too fearful to use (1 Samuel 14:13). If you are a star but
unwilling to use your sword, God can transfer it to a candle. If you fail to use your gifts and talents for God, He may transfer them to others.
Whether you are a star or a candle in the church, do not be
ashamed or fearful to be known as a servant of the Most High God. As stars and
candles, we are servants in the vineyard. God is not unrighteous to forget your
labour of love if you are diligent and faithful in service. God needs you in
His Vineyard today. Become involved and stop being a bench warmer.
More importantly, he needs your eternal soul in his kingdom?
Are you saved? If Christ returns now, are you fit for admission into heaven?
Ayodele Adegbulugbe
www.xtianrace.blogspot.com
email: ayodeleade2002@yahoo.com
Phone: 2348035978352
Christian titles:
Riches: A Blessing or a Snare?
Solutions to Sexual Abuses in Marriage
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