Rev. Don Campbell
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, JUNE 25, 2017: THE LAW OF ATROPHY
An over-simplified definition of the law of atrophy is “Use it or lose it.” Many things other than nonuse can cause atrophy; however, for our purpose the saying “use it or lose it” is sufficient.
We must use our faith or lose it. Paul wrote of Abraham, the father of the faithful: “In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God” (Rom 4:18-20). Some years after the promised son had been born and Abraham and Sarah had settled down to enjoy watching him grow, God told Abraham to slay Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice. Had Abraham failed the first test, there would have been no second.
We must use our gift or lose it. Peter exhorts: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Pet 4:10). Good stewardship is not just about giving, but about serving. Gifts are given to be used, not to be admired like a painting hanging on the wall. Use them or lose them.
We must use our knowledge or lose it: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Heb 5:11-14).
We must use our opportunities or lose them. Jesus speaks: “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.“’I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name’” (Rev 3:7-8).
When applied in the spiritual realm, the law of atrophy actually become the sin of atrophy. The Parable of the Talents clearly teaches us that God expects a return on his investment in us.
