Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s better to keep your mouth shut and have others think that you’re a fool, then to open it, and prove it?” I have reached the conclusion that I “assume” too often that people know what they are doing, only to find out that they either don’t have a clue what needs to be done or they just don’t deem it “their job.” What happened to the days when folks saw what needed to be done and they did it, even if it meant a sacrifice of their time and energy? What a treasure these people are! This reminds me of a wonderful poem by Edgar A. Guest titled, “It Couldn’t Be Done.” Each stanza ends with “He started to sing as he tackled the thing – That couldn’t be done, and he did it.” Could this be said about your work ethic? Do you see a need and try to come up with ways to solve the problem? Are you willing to “tackle” the issue? In many ways, we’ve become a very lazy society, expecting others to “bail us out” and tell us what to do, to the point that I’m afraid we’ve stopped “thinking” for ourselves. Problem solving is becoming a “lost art.” Are you part of the problem or part of the solution?
What are you willing to do for the Lord? The prophet Isaiah was quick to volunteer for the Lord, for Isaiah 6:8 says, “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” He was far different from the Jonah, who tried to run in the opposite direction of where God called him to go and ended up with a “close encounter” with the big fish. When Jeremiah heard the Word of the Lord, he tried to “do nothing,” and said, “I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name. But His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay” (Jeremiah 20:9). Once he knew the truth, He couldn’t keep quiet! Do you hide from your enemies or are you a “David” who rushed out to meet the giant Goliath? (I Samuel 17). If God puts a “Goliath” in front of you, He must believe that there is a “David” inside of you!
Jesus gave the “great commission” in Matthew 28:19-20 when He said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The problem – a lost and dying world. The solution – as we are going throughout the world, we should be teaching and baptizing. Are you part of the problem or part of the solution? Think about it. Simply blessed, Courtney