Loving God of grace and peace, pour out Your love and grace on the needs of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today is from Matthew 4:19: And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Where are you? What are you doing? Who told you? What are you waiting for? What can God and you do together? What are you willing to let God do in your life? Those are a lot of W questions that we find in the Bible. If you study God and how God calls folks to service and ministry, you'll discover that as these people answered, they also discovered who they were, and more importantly, Whose they were.
All of us have been called to ministry; not all to the professional ministry, but to the service of humanity in the name of God. It's a positive call and one that many do not take seriously enough. God urges, nudges, and sometimes yanks us to do His will. The question remains, will you do what God is asking and calling you to do? I shared with the congregation a great story that one of the speakers at the conference last week shared about a purple umbrella. It was certainly received well for many of us had been soaked that week for lack of one! But the story is about a woman who goes on a business trip to Zurich and while there has to ride a bus to her business meeting away from her hotel. As the bus makes another stop a man gets on who is soaked to the skin because he does not have a raincoat nor an umbrella. The woman heard God telling her, "Give that man your umbrella!" She begins her litany of reasons why she should not, including, "It's a purple umbrella and a man wouldn't want a purple umbrella! It doesn't even go with his outfit!" God continues, "Give him the umbrella." "I paid for it and you want me to just give him my umbrella?" Classic. God said, "I'm not kidding, give him my umbrellas." She goes and tries twice, the man politely refuses, finally she said, "God told me to give you my umbrella." The man accepts it with the thought, "How can I argue with God?"
That night at the hotel, her associate tells her about a wet man coming into their meeting with a purple umbrella and how he announced to the group that God had given it to him. Thankfully, the woman told her friend, there was a Christian man there who saw the opportunity and led this man to Christ. Hmm. God's funny that way. God will take our YES to do great eternal things.
What are you waiting for?
PRAYER: God of surprises and life, use me to share those with someone today. I pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
