But being the resourceful man that I am, I have begun recruiting my son to be my apprentice. I shall teach him the ancient ways of food-toting. Up to this point, however, he has earned about a C-. He can’t carry very much, but he is willing to grab a bag or two as long as they have food he likes in them. But that doesn’t always happen.
One day, he must have overheard me wishing for more hands. As I walked to the garage door, carrying my weight in Meijer bags, I asked him to help me out and hold the door open for me. Then as sincere as anything I’ve ever heard, he said, “I wish I had five hands to help you, Daddy.”
Of course, my heart instantly melted. I was very touched that my son wanted to help me. I was thrilled to know he cared. And then it ran through my mind, “Well, son...if you would use the two hands you have to grab a bag or two, I would have been finished a long time ago.”
As the Church, we are always looking for ways to raise funds for mission trips, or recruit volunteers to help with projects, or gather donations to meet the needs of the poor. We are always out there trying to look for more and more from everybody willing to give or lend a hand. We spend more time fundraising and recruiting than we do actually serving people and telling them about Christ.
How about this: let’s stop trying to act like we need five hands to be helpful, and use the two that we have. Let's start using all of our available resources for His glory. If we all did this, the world would be a much better place. Would every need be met completely? Probably not immediately. But if non-believers were able to actually see who Christ is by seeing our attitude and effort, then we would quickly be blessed with more hands than we could ever ask for. Our example should be our primary ministry. It is that simple.