I have mentioned the Town and Country Restaurant before. This morning I arrived early to my breakfast gathering with some of the deacons in our church. I meet with our deacons of the week each Thursday morning at the T & C just to share a meal and a little bit of life with them. This morning as I read a little scripture and reflected, my eyes wandered around the restaurant.
I was close enough to an older gentlemen to overhear a phone conversation he was having. I intentionally did not eavesdrop but it was easy to determine that someone he is close to had made an emergency trip to the hospital last night.
When he got off the phone, I witnessed his waitress stop by the table and based on her facial expression, I could tell he was relaying the story to her. In just a few moments, I watched the hostess come and sit with the man for several minutes.
As I observed all this, last night’s Bible study content from Mark 3 began to make its way through my mind. Jesus called the twelve with specific intentions. The point we talked about last night is that God calls each of us for specific reasons – some to minister in business, some to lead companies in a Godly manner, some to serve the sick in the name of Jesus, some to minister in churches – but all are called.
I watched that truth lived out right in front of me. The early shift hostess of the restaurant did not have to make her way to the older gentleman’s table. But she did. She sat with compassion and listened to his story. Patrons entered the door and seated themselves because she was not there to seat them. But what she was doing was more important. God used her to offer comfort to someone she hardly knew.
The verse of the day today on Biblegateway.com is Philippians 3:14. But if you back up and include the two verses just before, it says this:
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
We may not have it all figured out – we may not have “arrived,” but we must press on to what God called us to. I love the picture that Paul creates for us when he said, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
If you have allowed Jesus to take hold of you, you need to understand, he has done so for a reason. Define that reason and press on to take hold of it!
That is what the hostess did this morning. We can too!
Be a blessing today.
Yesterday, I awoke to discover we had been burglarized – always a great way to start a Monday (or any other day for that matter). Somehow, our garage door was opened and the burglars made off with some fishing gear and two sets of golf clubs (they really knew how to hurt a guy).
The description of Jesus’ approach should not be glossed over. The text says Jesus was “angry” and “deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts.” I have not been able to shake that sentence in 3:5. What I see here is that stubborn, unwilling hearts do not please Jesus. Now it is easy to look at the description of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees and cast judgement – to look down on them as ignorant and think to ourselves, “How could they have been so blind!” But before we rush to judgement, how pliable are our hearts?
We talk a lot about praising God. In any given church around the world on the weekends, you most likely will encounter an effort to praise God.
And our Recreation Minister has orchestrated an invitation for me to throw out the first pitch. Do you know how long it has been since I threw a baseball – let alone 60 plus feet in front of thousands of people. To answer the first half of that question – a very long time. To answer the second half of that question – NEVER.
And we are off! 20 people from our church are on the way to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We will be working with churches and schools in and around that city serving in a multitude of ways from construction to Vacation Bible Schools and sports camps to sewing projects and school teacher training.
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Clay in the Hands 