GIVE OURSELVES – Acts 6:4
Acts 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
The apostles understood the direction that God had called them to. A problem had arisen in the local church because many saw a need regarding the widows that was not properly being addressed. Rather than allowing themselves to be distracted by attempting to please others by making sure that they meet every need, the apostles instead chose to add more people to the ministry.
The apostles selected certain Godly characteristics that they felt were necessary for an individual to serve and they asked the people who saw the need to find those individuals who meet those qualifications. The apostles placed in a position of leadership, those who not only honest and full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, they wanted to put people into a position of leaders who the people were willing to follow.
The apostles did not allow themselves to be distracted with the ministries that other people saw for their lives. Too often, an individual will be effective in one area and very quickly, everyone is coming around asking them to help with their project. People want successful people helping. However, there comes a point where you are spending so much time helping everyone else, that you are failing to follow your own vision that God has for you.
Temperance requires that you say no to something that may sound right, but may not be the perfect will of God. Yes, the taking care of the widows is an important ministry of the church. However, just because there was a need, it did not mean that the apostles had to drop everything and personally take care of this new ministry that came to their attention.
Satan does not always distract you by bringing evil things into your life and try to get you to do wrong by doing evil. Sometimes, Satan will try to distract you from doing that which is right in the eyes of God by getting you to focus on all the good things that you can do. If Satan can get your focus off of the calling of God, then he can win the game by getting you to become burned out and discouraged. The only place to find true contentment is in the center of the will of God.
Food is necessary for you to live a long prosperous life. However, too much food or too much of the wrong type of food can lead to many medical problems. Temperance is understanding the difference between need and desire and stopping yourself from going too far. This is essentially what the disciples did when it came to doing the will of God. Yes, it would have been good to take care of the widows, but in doing so, it would have distracted them from their time praying and their time in the word which would affect their ability to properly minister the Good News.
Stop and look at your life, are you fulfilling the purpose that God has for your life? Are you squarely in the center of will of God or have you exceeded the will of God by taking on too much responsibility? Every day you need to look at your life and see where you are at. You need to make sure that you are staying in the will of God and that you are doing those things that will enable you to continue to hear HIM and do what HE desires you to do.
If you allow Satan to remove your eyes from the will of God, you will be the one to suffer. You will diminish your effectiveness for God, and you will have to repent and return to the place that God has for you. If you do not take the time to remind yourself of the direction that God has for you, then you are setting yourself up to allow Satan to distract you from where you need to be.