Written
by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha
A man’s gift makes room for him and
brings him before great men. Proverbs Chapter 18 verse 16
Do
you know what you own? Do you know the value of your God given gifts? If you
know, how do you treat them? And if you do not know, what are you doing to
identify them and their values, e they spiritual, physical, mental, financial,
material, etc?
The
Apostle Paul cautioned young Timothy not to neglect his gift irrespective of
how he got it. He also reminded Timothy about how the leaders of the Church
laid hands on him and there was a prophetic message regarding the gift. The
Apostle Paul therefore urged Timothy not to ignore the gift, not to consider
the gift trivial and insignificant. He told Timothy that the gift was a great
gift from God to him. Therefore, Timothy should recognize the import of the gift,
treasure the gift (1st Timothy Chapter 4 verse 14) and fan the gift
into flames. Flames cannot be hidden. When you fan the gift of God in you into
flames, the gift becomes visible for everyone to see. But when you do not fan
the gift, it becomes cold embers or dying embers or smoky embers which do not
bless anyone especially the smoky embers. The smoky embers for instance will
obscure vision, restrict people from coming close by because of the negative
impact of the smoke on the eyes (peppery eyes) smell of smoke on clothes, hair and
body; carbon monoxide when inhaled. The implication is that gifts that have not
been fanned into flames do not attract people and when gifts do not attract
people, they cannot be money making gifts. In essence, they cannot be
monetized. But when they are fanned into flames, they become attractive. Why?
People want to see what the flame is, what is responsible for the flame and how
they can benefit from the flame. Recall how God got Moses’ attention through
the burning bush that was not consumed?
