‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ Luke 14:21b ESV
We have followed the ministry of Joni Eareckson Tada for many years and the outreach that Joni and Friends has done around the world is inspiring. So I was delighted the other night to have the regional director for Central Florida come and present the pathway for building such a ministry at our church. Though our group was tiny compared to the size of our congregation, I believe a seed was planted and will in God’s time grow into what He desires for our community. This is our little huddle, minus yours truly who was taking the shot.
That is my dearest in silver and blue on the left and Amy Schipper the Florida director on the right. The night began with a touching story, that I share with you today as a call to consider such a ministry in your community.
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12 ESV
My wife and I enjoy doing puzzles together, so I was delighted to find an almost new 1,000-piece puzzle with a Thomas Kincade painting on the box for a dollar at a yard sale. As soon as I got home, I dumped the puzzle out and eagerly began working to piece it together. Because of the complexity of the design, I didn’t at first realize, but eventually it became clear that, though my puzzle was almost new, it had been put into the wrong box! That puzzle reminds me of how in spite of God’s design, we sometimes struggle to find where we fit. In today’s verse the Apostle Paul tells us that together we are the Body of Christ and each of us is a part. Fortunately for us, God puts the correct picture on the box, (the Bible) and second, we are each intricately designed to be put into exact the position for which God designed. Paul gets very detailed about those parts, calling some of us eyes, some ears and others, hands and feet. Some of us who suffer from low self-esteem are encouraged by realizing that we too are a valuable part. However, we also need to remember that discovering our usefulness also means finding how our being connected to others gives us the opportunity to serve them. Trying to find how we fit in the church, without being thankful for people around us, is like our putting our puzzle together with the wrong picture on the box!
Though, people will usually take time to thank God for their blessings, why not go beyond just being thankful for how we have been blessed and take the time to give thanks for how God has blessed others, who He has connected to us. We just might be amazed at how being thankful, will clear our vision and help us to see them as part of the beautiful puzzle that God has designed called the Body of Christ!
"The beginning of men's rebellion against God was, and is, the lack of a thankful heart." Francis Shaeffer
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV
As we put the tree back up again
A bit earlier this year
And bring out our decorations
Little treasures mixed with tears
First will be the manger scene
Then comes an angel and a clown
They help me to remember friends
While I build our Christmas town
And I wonder where that past has gone
While I work here all alone
Now, I think I would be kinder
If I had only known
That all that stuff I thought so dear
Along with youth would soon be gone
And only mercy, love and grace
Remain as we move on
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