Several weeks ago, while reading 1 Samual, I began to thing about anoint and how it differs from appoint.
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
1Samuel 16:13
Anoint is defined as:
a•noint (əˈnɔɪnt)
1. to apply an ointment or oily liquid to by rubbing or sprinkling.
2. to smear with any liquid.
3. to consecrate or make sacred in a ceremony that includes the token applying of oil.
4. to choose formally: anointed a successor.
And appoint is defined as:
appoint [əˈpɔɪnt]
1. to assign officially, as for a position, responsibility, etc. he was appointed manager
2. to establish by agreement or decree; fix a time was appointed for the duel
3. to prescribe or ordain laws appointed by tribunal
4. (Law) Property law to nominate (a person), under a power granted in a deed or will, to take an interest in property
5. to equip with necessary or usual features; furnish a well-appointed hotel
The Lord had Samuel anoint David, at an early age, as king over all Israel. It wasn’t until much later in his life that David took over the position of king, after King Saul’s death. The Lord then used Israel to appoint David king.
From this idea of anointing and appointing, I thought about baby baptism and dedication. Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions call for infant baptism, while most protestant, evangelical, and pentecostal churches tend toward infant dedication. I actually don’t see a lot of difference in the two practices. In both, an infant is anointed by somebody who is suppose to be standing in for the Lord G-d, Father, Creator. Being anointed to become. . . An infant isn’t a Christian until he or she is able to choose and is then appointed by G-d to that holy office.
From here my thoughts go toward the anointing that is done in various healing ceremonies in our churches. In the Roman Catholic and Anglican tradition, an anointing for healing is much more formal that in other churches. While the prayers differ, the intent, the desire, is that the Lord appoint healing to the recipient. So I think: it took years for G-d to put a crown on Kind David’s head after He caused the anointing. Perhaps it’s no wonder we see so few instantaneous healing in our churches.
And I think perhaps that we all have some anointing that occurs in our lives, perhaps a calling to a particular ministry at a particular time. And we don’t exactly hop right into that calling, but we begin to prepare for it. Perhaps. But maybe we don’t. Maybe because the appointing is delayed, we doubt. And when we doubt we think, “Nothing is happening. I thought I was suppose to (fill in the blank).”
And further, I think of David who wanted to be anointed and appointed to build a temple for the Most Holy Lord G-d. He was denied. That didn’t stop David from preparing for the temple. He gathered all the stuff and probably dreamed of how it would look, though the privilege of seeing to the construction, and seeing dedicating the temple went to his son, Solomon.
From this I take some lessons:
G-d anoints and allows the appointing to follow in His time, not necessarily ours. An anointing may be the Lord’s Spirit enabling us to have the potential, the aptitude, to do a certain thing. We don’t know how to do it at that moment, but we have the means available now to learn.
When we feel called, perhaps this is the anointing, and we need to walk in that anointing until we are appointed officially to the position in which we feel called. And that may take time. Also, we may feel called but not see anything happen. Don’t let it stop us from preparing, for perhaps we hand it off to someone else. Oh, sure, that is going to be a bit of a humbling experience. But perhaps that’s exactly what we need.
Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .
JonahzSong 