“So, as much as in me is.”
“So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also” (Romans 1: 15).
Every man is a box, a chamber, that is himself, out of which he lives and engages with others. Man’s life is outsourced from inside his box (Pr.4: 23; Mt.15.19), and he builds relationships by sharing what’s inside his box.
Like a box a man has two sides, an inside and outside. Like a box we carry stuff inside us that only God can see. And we’re capable of holding more than any shipping crate known to man. On the outside are labels and stickers and stains that usually correspond with what’s on the inside.
What we actually are surfaces when we’re handled roughly and jostled and our flaps fly open (Mt.12.34).
We carry certain things for a while and then take them out and put different stuff inside. We can at will take stuff out and put stuff in our own box. Most things are carried for a short while. Few things are carried for a life time. Over the years what we carry changes and we change with it.
The purpose of Christianity is to save the box and insure its final destiny is Heaven, and remove all that defiles and put in what is pure.
Paul like everyone else was a box. Like every Christian he was indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But he was unlike everyone else as an individual. He had a past and experiences that others didn’t have (Phil. 3: 4-14). He had a unique training experience by the Spirit (Gal. 1: 15-18).
Paul was authentic, real, genuine and sincere. What he said and did originated from within his box. He preached out of his personal experience and training, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Others (though it’s very doubtful) may have had more spiritually in their box than he had but he used only what he had. This is what made him so effective.
So all Paul had or all he was or with all his heart he was ready to serve God. He was ready to go with who and what he was to do something for God. Paul said, “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15: 10).
I believe the call to preach is a call to prepare. But at sometime we must decide to go with what we have and serve God. Each opportunity to minister demands another time of preparation and getting ready.
One old country preacher said he prepared himself this way. “I read myself full, think myself clear, pray myself hot, and let myself go.”
James H. Cagle
