Recently I was asked by my pastor to take the lead in putting together a monthly church newsletter. The idea first came up while we were serving the ladies in attendance at the annual Mother and Daughter banquet held in May as a part of our church’s celebration of Mothers’ Day. When my pastor, Alan Ramsey first looked at me and asked “we can do this, right…?” I immediately began to think of things I knew would be great to include in our newsletter. Mrs. Ramsey added a couple of ideas, such as a devotional and a listing of the birthdays and anniversaries, while others wanted to see nursery schedules, articles highlighting different church functions and special events, and even a map to the church and the plan of Salvation. These were all terrific ideas and each one has found a place in the pages of this newsletter.
As I began to work on the newsletter, a passage out of the Gospel of Luke came to mind: Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them (Luke 35-37). While there are so many lessons and applications about this scripture that demonstrate the need to be ready for the rapture, I want to take a minute to share with you another application: as children of Christ we need to be ready to do whatever work He calls us to do at a moment’s notice.
Both Peter and Andrew heard the Master’s call and immediately went out to do what he had called them to do—they were going to become fishers of men. Through their childhood and into adulthood, they knew how to catch fish, they knew where the best fishing spots were, what bait to use, and even the times of day that would yield the best fish. Jesus knew that these skills would be just as applicable for the two brothers in their endeavors to become “fishers of men.” Yes, they had the talents and skills that would be useful in serving God; however, they had to be willing to heed the call and use their abilities for His glory.
I also think of the teaching of Christ about the servants and the talents as told in the gospel of Matthew. After distributing the talents, the master went away and each man was expected to do something—anything—with what he had been given by his master with the end result being an increase. For the master, it did not matter how much the increase was but what mattered was that each of the men be willing to do something with what had been given to them. When the master returned, the first two not only brought the original talents they were given, but also brought an increase, yet this: His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord (Matthew 25:21 & 23). In the eyes of the master it truly did not matter who earned the most or who was the first. Both men had taken what was given them and did something with what they had been given.
