“You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty; Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor.” Ezekiel 28:12, 17 (NLT)

Have you ever been given a gift and you meant to use it but instead you placed it on a shelf or in the closet and you just sorta forgot about it? Or maybe, you gave a gift to someone but they didn’t use it the way you intended for it to be used. I’m gonna go ahead and apologize to my parents for using them as an example here, lol. A couple of years ago, my mom gave my dad a set of assorted hand weights for Christmas, because he mentioned that he’d like to have some. Today, if I’m not mistaken, those weights sit in his garage, unopened. Last year, my dad gave my mom a set of home security cameras because that’s what she asked for. Man, we feel so secure knowing those cameras are still in the box sitting on the shelf in the laundry room….We all do this and not only with gifts from friends and loved ones. We also do the same thing with the gifts that our Heavenly Father gives us.

When we are saved, the Bible says we are given spiritual gifts, at least one, but possibly more. The LORD gives us these gifts to build up and edify the Body of Christ (the Church) and above all to glorify His Holy Name. So often we let these gifts go to waste. Sometimes we put them on the shelf, thinking we are not needed or not good enough to use them. Perhaps, we don’t even recognize the gifts we have been given. But the thing is, God doesn’t just give these gifts out at random. It’s not an inny, minny, miney moe type thing. God, in His infinite wisdom, specifically designs and imparts specific gifts for each believer. What He gives me, He may not give to my sister and what He chooses for her, He may not give me. Even though we are all the same, in that, we are all created in the image of God, we are all very different in how He chooses to gift and use us. It takes all of us to make the Body of Christ work efficiently and our God knows exactly where we need to be. So if you have the gift of teaching, encouraging, giving, serving, whatever it may be, pray and ask God to open up the door of opportunity and show you how to use the gifts He has given you. But there is another way that we waste the good gifts from God.

In the above verses of scripture, God is speaking to Ezekiel. He is talking about Lucifer, (Satan). Just like you and I, Lucifer is a created being. He was created to be an angel. Not just any angel, but a high ranking angel. In Ezekiel 28, it says He walked with God and was ordained as the “guardian cherub”, He literally kept watch over the Throne of God, the Glory of God. (Ezekiel 28:14) It says in verse 12 that he was the “model of perfection”, he was beautiful and wise. But Lucifer allowed all of this to go to his head and in verse 17, God says, “His heart filled with pride because of his beauty and his wisdom was corrupted by his love of splendor”. Satan became prideful and selfish and began to think he was greater than God. This is exactly what we do in our own lives.

God gifts, or blesses, each of us in so many ways. Our beauty, wisdom, strength, material things, financial abundance, prestige and status in our job and social circles, are all gifts from God. But because we are sinners by nature, we too, let these things make us prideful and boastful. We begin to think that we deserve these things, that we have in some way earned them, when in reality, we only have because God graciously gives, “Every good and perfect gift comes from above.” (James 1:17) We tend to look at what we have and think because we have this or that, we must be better than someone else. We consider these things our own accomplishments and begin to think we don’t need God after all, we can do this all by ourselves. We take God’s good gifts and turn them into an occasion to sin and God will not put up with it. (Ezekiel 3:20, Amplified) It is a very dangerous way to think because the God who gives is also the God who takes away. (Job 1:21) Our God will not allow anything or anyone to be placed above Him because there is nothing greater than He. “Human pride will be humbled, and human arrogance will be brought down. Only the LORD will be exalted.” (Isaiah 2:17) Everything the LORD gives us is meant to be used for His Ultimate Glory and to use it any other way is a slap in His face. We let our beauty, strength and wisdom make us proud. Instead of using our money and material blessings to help others and build up the Church, we selfishly hoard it for our own personal satisfaction. When our job and social status give us opportunities to share the Gospel, we become ashamed and embarrassed and keep the Good News of Jesus Christ to ourselves. We waste what we have been given.

Then there is the Greatest Gift of all. The Bible says that God loves us so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins. (John 3:16) He paid the penalty for our sins, so that through Him, we might receive the free gift of salvation. There are so many people in this world who reject that gift to the detriment of their eternal souls. Your looks, money and social status will not get you to Heaven. There is only one way and the Way is Jesus Christ. If you are reading this and you know you are lost, don’t put it off, don’t let Satan, the Father of Lies, convince you that there is plenty of time. The Bible says, “Today is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2) Call out to Him, confess your sins, ask for forgiveness and receive the gift of Salvation. Don’t let any of the LORD’s good and perfect gifts go to waste. Don’t put them on the shelf, unused and gathering dust. Let Him use you in whatever way He sees fit and know that you will be blessed.

“They will be radiant because of the LORD’s good gifts.” Jeremiah 31:12