Ready to Serve?

For most of the Christians I know, they believe that they have been called to serve; however, for far too many of those who believe that God has called them to serve Him in this world, their belief is about as far as they go...it is not a verb of action.

Now for many of us, we believe that we are just not capable of serving God, of making a difference in the lives of others or sharing our faith in a way that begs another to follow Christ. After all, we are no Billy Graham! So we sit on the sidelines and leave the real work of God's Kingdom to a small band of the truly committed....besides we just aren't very gifted when it comes to service.

Well, consider this verse from John 6:9 that reads. "There's a boy here who has five barley loves and two fishes-but what is that among so many?"

Why do I mention that verse? Well, in perhaps one of the greatest miracles in the history of mankind (and the earthly ministry of Jesus), we have the story of the feeding of the five thousand. People from all regions of the country had followed Jesus because of the wonderful miracles he had been performing in their midst and they gathered to hear Jesus speak. In fact, noonday was fast approaching and it was time for lunch. The disciples were concerned about such a large crowd with nothing to feed them so Jesus sent them throughout the crowd to see what might be available.  Their search turned up a young boy whose mother had prepared for her son a delicious lunch...five barley loaves and two small fish...a nutritional lunch for a growing boy. Then, Jesus told the disciples to have the multitude sit down on the grassy plain and to bring him the boy's lunch....and here's the sticky point...WHAT IF THE BOY HAD SAID NO?

Scripture tells us that Jesus already knew what He was going to do, but first He needed the little boy to surrender what he had to Jesus; then Jesus would take his sacrifice and multiply  it for all those He was about to feed. And the same holds true for you and me.

God has blessed each of us with what may seem to be "a small lunch", but when surrendered to the Savior, we become far more than we could ever be on our own. Our contribution in service may indeed be small and seem insufficient for the need at hand...but when surrendered to Jesus, He alone can make our contribution of significant value and prominence in the Kingdom work...just like He did with those barley loaves and fishes.

So quit asking yourself if what you have to give can make a real difference in this world? Rather the question to ask is....AM I WILLING TO OFFER WHAT I HAVE SO THAT HE CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE?

Willing to serve...giving all I have,

WPQ