Volunteering

February 2, 2016
                               
                                                 Volunteering

My granddaughter, Devyn, loves to be read to.  She will grab a book and start backing up toward the first available lap she can find and plop down.  She will literally do this for hours, repeating the same books over and over.

Recently we went through a phase where “The Little Red Hen” was a particular favorite.  If you’ve forgotten this classic, the Little Red Hen needs help saving the seed, weeding the garden, gathering the wheat, grinding the flour and baking the bread.  Everyone she asks replies, “Not I, Not I.”  But when she asks for volunteers to eat the bread everyone says, “I Will! I Will.” It seems to be a part of chicken nature as well as human nature to want to enjoy the benefits and blessings while avoiding the work.

Wouldn’t it be great Mom, if you asked, “Who’d like to help with the dishes” and multiple voices said, “I will, let me, help!” (We can always dream can’t we?)  Or Dad wouldn’t it be great if you said, “I could use some help mowing the grass” and suddenly there were volunteers with no mention of getting paid.

In Exodus 35:21 as Moses prepares to construct the Tabernacle we are told that “everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments”.  Perhaps the most important prerequisite for being used by God is willingness.  It’s not about how talented, or creative, or well-trained we are. God can use anyone who is available.
​
So what is keeping you from stepping up to the plate?  Like Isaiah of old said, “Here am I Lord, Send, Me” (Isaiah 6:8).  You might just be amazed at the incredible ways God uses you to accomplish His purpose.
 
Have a great week!
Pastor Barry