“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many….you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
1 Corinthians 12:14; 27
As many of you know, on Wednesday evenings we are examining the Lord Jesus’ life as we work our way through Luke’s Gospel. But what you may not know, is while Luke wrote his gospel account by traveling and interviewing the different witnesses, Theophilus (the man Luke’s Gospel and the book of Acts is addressed to) probably funded Luke, in order for him to travel and write.
Many commentators believe Theophilus was affluent, a person of high social standing, and was Luke’s financial backer so he could write these two books, which would have been an enormous financial commitment, and if it’s true, it’s a perfect picture of how people with different gift-mixes combine them to serve the Lord. Luke gave his intellect, time and energy and Theophilus gave his money, and together to this very day we are still served by both of these men, and the Lord has used their contribution countless times to draw people into a genuine relationship with the Lord Jesus.
I guarantee you, as Theophilus stands before the Lord Jesus, he doesn’t regret at all giving his money away to help get the news out about Jesus Christ. I would even venture to say he actually rejoices in the opportunities that God gave him to further the Kingdom! And Luke must be over-joyed to know that his investment of time, energy and intellect has paid eternal dividends!
What about you? In what ways and different venues do you sense the Lord is prompting you to combine your gift-mix with another person’s gift-mix to help spread the good news of Jesus Christ, and hold Jesus up as our supreme treasure? Follow in the example of Luke and Theophilus and allow the Lord to use your gifts for His Kingdom purposes!
