Week V

Check-up

Because of the relaxed Flourish posted last week, there's not much to check - up on. But if anyone has anything, feel free to post it in the comment section

Admonish
Washington D.C. is one of the most diverse cities in our country. Just take a walk down the the National Mall and you will find a melting pot of humanity. Families picnicking in the shade. School children visiting museums. Foreigners from nearly every country taking in the sights. Talented men playing various instruments on the sidewalk. Homeless men begging for spare change. Diplomats rushing by them in their tailored suits. You can't help but notice people from every spectrum of life.

Somewhere near the Washington Monument, you will find a station for D.C.'s underground train system, the Metro. Follow me down the escalator.

We have enjoyed a nice afternoon of sight seeing and are ready to rest our feet. As we reach the first level, in the middle of all the busyness you hear children screaming wildly. As you follow the sound, your attention is drawn to a young mother with two rowdy, undisciplined children. Judging from her appearance, you gather that the mother must be rather well-off. She is nervously rummaging through her purse trying to find her Metro ticket. She has apparently misplaced it and becomes frantic. The stress from the situation is showing all over her face. Her children's screams become ear piercing causing everyone in the station to stare at them. She struggles to pacify them with candy, but to no avail.

What do you begin thinking? What do you do?

We make our way down to the lower level and board our train. It's not long before we reach our stop. As we exit the train and head out of the station, you are startled by a situation. As if oblivious to the hundreds of people around him, a man is rummaging through a garbage can next to a bench. He is wearing a very worn jacket and pair of frayed blue jeans. His face is barely visible through his hair and beard. He pulls various items out of the garbage and places them in the pockets of his jacket. You notice his attention is suddenly drawn to a bag on the bench next to a well dressed businessman. As the businessman becomes distracted with a phone call, the homeless man slowly slips his hand into the bag and pulls something out, places it in his pocket and walks away.

What do you begin thinking? What do you do?

Your reaction to both of these situations is motivated by your spiritual gift. There are many different responses to both of them, but the one that you choose is a direct reflection of the gift God has placed in your responsibility.

Exercise
Mentally answer the questions for both situations above, then take the spiritual gifts inventory found at this link: http://mintools.com/spiritual-gifts-test.htm. (If you do not see the test, scroll down the page until you find it. It is near the bottom.) After you have taken the test, let us know what you find and how you believe your spiritual gift affected your reaction to both situations.

Scripture
After you have found your spiritual gift, find scripture dealing with your particular gift. When you find it, let us know what it is in the comment section.

Be sure to let us know what you find after you take the test, as well as what scripture you find that deals with your spiritual gift.