Immerse yourself in your gift

In this episode, we reflect on Paul’s instruction to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:14–16 and explore what it means to immerse yourself in the gift, calling, and assignment God has placed in your hands.

In a world filled with distractions, endless information, and constant entertainment, it is possible to acknowledge your gift but still neglect it. This message is a call to move beyond passive awareness into faithful stewardship, intentional cultivation, and deep immersion.

You will be encouraged to recognize what God has placed in you, practice the disciplines that strengthen your calling, and give yourself wholly to the work until your progress becomes evident. This episode also includes prayer for the next generation, that they will not be swept away by distraction but will discover, cultivate, and fully embrace their God-given purpose.

Scripture focus: 1 Timothy 4:14–16
Key themes: stewardship, cultivation, immersion, calling, discipline, visible progress, purpose, and spiritual focus.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

There is a gift God has placed in you. But a gift can be real and still remain underdeveloped if it is neglected. The question is not only whether you have found the one thing that is in you, but whether you are willing to give yourself wholly to it. Good morning and welcome to today's expression of igniting your day with Bami Daily or Lorra Tova. Over the past one day, one question has stayed with me. After I discover the one thing God is asking me to give attention to, what am I supposed to do with it? Many people are not confused because there is no direction available. They are confused because there are too many voices, too many options, too many distractions, and too many competing interests. You can know that something is important and still not know how to give yourself wholly to it. That's why this question became important to me. When I finally recognized the one thing that is needful for my life, my growth, my calling, my season. What should I do next? This morning, the answer became clear to me. Emerge yourself. Emerge yourself. Immerse yourself. Number one, all reminded Timothy, do not neglect the gift. Do not neglect the gift. Friends, today there's so much going on. What is even more troubling is that so much is happening around us that if you are not focused, you may prefer to remain a spectator all your life. There is a lot happening. You can sit on social media and scroll for hours and hours only to discover that you've done nothing with your own life. Apostle Paul told Timothy, do not neglect the gift. This is the principle of stewardship. It speaks of taking responsibility for what God has placed in you. A gift must be guarded, a gift must be developed, a gift must be used faithfully. Do not neglect your gift. The way the world is going today, many people can easily neglect their gifts because of the comfort and entertainment available on social media. But you also have something. So Paul said to Timothy, do not neglect your gift. I pray for you. I pray for myself. I pray for our children. Whatever we see now that we complain about, as time advances, knowledge and information will continue to increase. Therefore, I pray that our children will not neglect their gifts. I'd like to encourage you, acknowledge what God has put in you. In Philemon chapter 1, verse 6, the Bible speaks about the sharing of your faith becoming effective by the acknowledgement of every good thing that is in you in Christ Jesus. If we do not want to neglect the gift that is in us, it begins with us acknowledging that we have something. There are times people around you need help, but because you have not acknowledged that you have what it takes to help them, they suffer needlessly. Speak this into your life that you acknowledge every good thing that is in you in the name of Jesus. Amen. Secondly, Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy, practice the things that strengthen your calling, practice the things that strengthen your calling. Yes. Apostle Paul told Timothy to practice the things that strengthen his calling. There is an area every one of us is drawn into the gifts we carry and the talents we exhibit. There is a calling. Let me say that again. There is an area every one of us is drawn into by the gifts we carry and the talents we exhibit. There is a calling there. The lesson here is this calling grows through cultivation, not assumption. The moment you acknowledge that you have something, what follows is cultivation. Paul said, meditate on these things. Give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all. Paul did not only tell Timothy not to forget the gift. No, he also told him to practice the things that strengthen his calling. This is the principle of cultivation. After you have noticed the gift, begin to engage in the things that make it stronger. Learn more about it. Ask people who do it well. Ask how do you do it? Talk to those who have done it and succeeded. Ask them, what did you do from this stage to that stage? If you can seek help, seek help. If you can seek advice, seek advice. Paul told Timothy. First, do not forget the gift. Second, practice the things that strengthen this gift. Practice the things that strengthen your calling. Friends, there is a humility required for you to submit yourself to the process of practicing the things that strengthen your calling. As I mentioned earlier, there is so much distraction these days. There are many things that are attractive to you, but are not beneficial to the strengthening of your calling. There are many things that appeal to you and me, but they are not useful for strengthening what God has placed in your hands. Take a minute, pray for yourself this morning. Pray especially for everyone under your care. Yes, pray that you will not only acknowledge what you have, but that you will cultivate what you have and make it grow. Yes. Thank you, Jesus. The third thing Apostle Paul told Timothy is immerse yourself, which is the strongest part of Apostle Paul's communication to Timothy there. Immerse yourself. Paul was telling Timothy to become absorbed in the work, become absorbed in the work God has given you. Do not become distracted. Do not become half-hearted. Do not become occasional. Timothy was to give himself fully to the life, the discipline, the study, the character, and the service required by the assignment. I do not know what the Lord has committed into your hands, but hear this this morning. Do not neglect it, cultivate it, be immersed in it. Let yourself be absorbed. Paul continues in verse 16, yes, of 1st Timothy chapter 4. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you. This morning, I want us to consider absorption. What are the things preventing you from being absorbed? What are the distractions preventing you from being fully immersed in what the Lord has committed into your hands? Many of us have acknowledged that we have something. Many of us are cultivating it, but many still find it hard to become absorbed. Sometimes there is a fear. Maybe at the moment you are looking at the financial gain that can come from being absorbed in that thing. After your calculations, you tell yourself, this may not be able to make to take me from point A to point B. But the truth is, until you become absorbed, you will not burn. And if you do not burn, people will not come to watch. That's how it works. If you can set yourself on fire, people will come and watch. Apostle Paul knew this and he told Timothy, immerse yourself in them. There is a quality that comes out of immersing yourself in what has been committed into your hands. Ask the Lord to help you. Ask him to give you insight. Ask him to supply you with wisdom. How do you immerse yourself? How do you become absorbed in what you are sent you to do? Ask him to open your eyes, he will show you. Friends, one very important thing to consider about immersion is that it goes beyond being absorbed by what you do. Being absorbed by what you do is the most obvious part of immersion. But beyond being absorbed, immersion requires that you are continually shaped by the things you are absorbed in. It continues to change you. It continues to refine you. It continues to reform you. It continues to take hold of your life, not negatively, but in such a way that your life becomes aligned with that purpose. Immersion helps you cut off distractions. Anything that does not agree with that life, you are able to say no to it. Immersion helps you reduce clutter in your life. Because you have been immersed, it becomes easier to say no to the things that are not beneficial. I do not know who you are this morning, but this may be the exact help you need. The help to immerse yourself. I pray for you that strength and grace are supplied to you in the name of Jesus. There are people who have seen and wondered, how is he doing these things? How is she doing these things? It may simply be that the person has found how to immerse himself or immerse herself in what he or she is doing. I pray for you this morning that the Lord will open your eyes, he will hold you by the hand and walk you through everything you need to do to become what he has called you to be in the name of Jesus. When I think over these things we have prayed about, I remember that the influence social media has today did not exist many years ago. Because of that, some of us were helped to give ourselves to the things that were committed into our hands. But today, there is social media and entertainment which are more interesting to a lot of people everywhere. It makes me feel compassion for the younger ones because I ask myself, what will the future look like? Will people be able to say, This is what I am able to do? This is my calling? Will they be able to make themselves fully immersed in what they are doing? Take a moment and pray for your younger ones. If you have a younger sibling, pray for him, pray for her. If you have children, pray for them. Pray that there will be no neglect of the calling God has given them. Pray that they will cultivate their calling. Pray that they will be immersed in their calling in the name of Jesus. Thank you, Heavenly Father. Friends, I believe you have been blessed by what you heard this morning. One, do not neglect the gift. Do not neglect the gift at all. Do not neglect the gift. Do not, do not, do not, do not, do not, do not neglect the gift. Do not neglect the gift. Do not neglect the gift. Two, practice the things that strengthen your calling. Practice the things that strengthen your calling. And number three, immerse yourself. Immerse yourself. Immerse yourself. I look forward to coming your way again tomorrow. I wish you an amazing day ahead. I remain by me daily for Lord. God bless you.