At Your Service

 

Who doesn't like good customer service? Those who service well solve problems.

Easier said than done.

I digress to return to my point later: Something that is hard is not necessarily impossible. Christ tells the disciples that "...'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.' (Matthew 19:26).

Digressing further: Jesus had just told his disciples that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven.

Linchpin thought: I'm not a scholar, which is why I study. I also know I can study so much that I don't have the time, inclination or the courage to serve others. I can get more preoccupied with doctrine which ironically nullifies what I just studied if I "stay in my brain," so to speak, and don't get out the door to be the hands and feet of Jesus today.

Finding Balance between knowledge and action: Ecclesiastes 1:18 says, "For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow." I have learned that even nutritious food can be fattening if too much is eaten and not worked off .

Winding my way back to my point: Today my understanding is that the impossible act of a camel going through the eye of a needle is easier (this implies possibility to me) than for a rich man to get into heaven. I don't believe this says the rich can't get into Heaven. I believe it means that if one is materially wealthy the warning is to not let those riches blind one from fully entering the Kingdom of God.

Almost there: If the rich, for whom it is nearly impossible to get into Heaven, can get into Heaven when obeying God through Christ, then I too can serve others around me every day, though it be near impossible.

Point: God is looking to solve someone's problem through us today. While we cannot solve other's problems in full and vice versa, we can encourage someone on their life's journey. Who of us has ever been in a pinch, a bit or a lot down, received a smile from someone then felt those sorrows drown for a period? What a great gift to give another in the name of Jesus, though the words never come out.

Warning: Pinches have a tendency to either bring out the grinch in us or the grateful in us. Happiness is not guaranteed us when others lift us up, joy is dependent on the state of our hearts.

Neither do we have control over whether others will be a grinch or grateful towards our serving them in the name of Jesus. But we can give...a smile, money when appropriate, an extra hand, a little time, material goods, and above all, The Gospel when the door is open.

It shall not be so among you. 
But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 
and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 
even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, 
and to give his life as a ransom for many. -Matthew 20:26

This post is dedicated to those who serve Jesus, publicly or privately and may His name always be glorified!