IBS Application for Luke 3:14

“Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what shall we do?’ And He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.’”

It was difficult for me to come up with a good application for today’s verse. But this morning, I figured out what God was trying to tell me through it.

Seeing as how the comparison was made between us as an Ignite class and a S.E.A.L. team, it became clear to me that this verse may hold some relevance to our time here, fulfilling the mission that God has set before us. I think it would be prudent to look at this verse in conjunction with yesterday’s verse and its context in 1 Timothy.

We see here in the context of this verse that John the Baptist is warning and advising many of the people he was baptizing about what they should do in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. He warned them to start repenting of their sins and to start living lives that produce good fruit. In this case, he was speaking to a group of soldiers in particular, telling them that in order to produce good fruit, they had but to be content with their wages, and not commit theft in order to stay afloat.

If we take this in conjunction with the last IBS on 1 Timothy 6:6-8, keeping in mind that we are both soldiers and ministers for the Lord, we could perhaps make the connection that there’s more than one way to rob the people we minister to as soldiers for Christ. For example, some people may not be content with their worldly possessions and seek to gain something by way of ministry. Whether it be money or something else, it doesn’t matter. But there are worse things that a missionary can do as a discontent soldier.

Being equipped for battle with spiritual gifts and the armor of God, we’re prepared to fight some of the most important battles that take place on earth, though none of them are fought with physical weapons. These fights take place in one of the darkest places of all: the human heart. Being equipped to deal with these battles by God ought to be a good thing. But we, as sinners, have a way of taking a good thing that’s been given to us and corrupting it.

When someone misuses their gifts and quenches the Holy Spirit when He moves in a person’s life, we misuse what God’s given us out of discontentment towards our circumstances. Perhaps that will manifest itself in dissatisfaction with the position someone holds in a ministry, or they want to feel better about themselves and thus, they put down the people around them or refuse to minister to specific people. Ultimately, if we use anything we’ve been given for the purpose of blessing others to bless ourselves, we not only rob them of an outpouring of grace, but we steal from God as well. The fruits of our work belong to God first. It’s a shame when it happens, because by ministering to other people, we can overflow with the Holy Spirit in such a way that we are often also blessed in ministering to others. I know this to be true from personal experience.

As a soldier for God, I’ve been given tools and gifts to use in the fights I get into walking my walk with Him. And I grow and have great gain when I pour out what’s been poured into me. Yet there are times when I refuse to lay down what I want and get dissatisfied with what God gives me. It’s been a problem that’s actually been on my mind a lot lately. But it’s so freeing to lay down what I want and simply be content with what He’s blessed me with. If I trust Him with my desires, I can have some confidence that He’ll reward me for the faith I have in Him, seeing as how God rewards faithful service.

For my application, I will spend some of my devotion time every morning this week in prayer laying down my desires and asking that God would grant my what I need for that day, and that I would have faith in His ability to satisfy both my needs and desires.