Reason #959
One of the things I appreciate about the company I work for is their full commitment to honoring the Lord. This is West Texas, so saying "God bless you," and throwing around Christian terminology is still widely accepted. But there's a difference between acknowledging the Lord and serving the Lord, and today I got a unique opportunity to serve the Lord during work.
This town is packed full of non-profit organizations that greatly help the people in our community. It seems that every soup kitchen is on mission to not only feed the hungry but to clothe them and meet as many of their physical needs as possible. Most of these soup kitchens serve in the name of Jesus, as they either are run out of local churches or funded by local churches. I've been serving at a soup kitchen once a month for the past year, and it has been an eye opening experience. Today, I volunteered to serve with many of my co-workers. A lot of businesses in Lubbock go out and do things in the community. They also alert the news stations so that the reporters can be present to let the community know which business is doing what. But today we served at the soup kitchen not to promote ourselves, not to gain a little attention and notoriety, not to get our name out there and build our customer base, but because Jesus calls us to serve. That should always be our motive.
I've really had to work on my heart over the past year of serving in the soup kitchen. It has caused me to really take a good look at my life. I've been challenged to evaluate my heart each time I've served, and I've learned a lot about myself and about the Lord. Sometimes we think that maybe these small endeavors don't really matter. Maybe passing out a plate of food doesn't make that big of a difference for the kingdom. After all, that seems too minor and too easy. We feel like we need to be the ones passing out tracts and coaching people through the sinner's prayer. We need to be pulling them out of addiction and witnessing a God-sized transformation in their lives. We need to have that "Do you know where you're going when you die?" conversation with them so that we can lead them to Christ. And so handing out a plate of food seems trivial. It seems insignificant. But to a hungry person, I think it's a pretty big deal.
I sat the tables before we put out drinks and silverware, and part of me wondered why we should go to such lengths to decorate. I thought, "I don't know that anyone will even notice or care that the tables are decorated." The truth is, these people are coming in hungry. They are expecting food, and I figured that table décor is the least of their concerns. But I thought about the fact that we could simply give them what they are expecting, which is a plate of food, or we could go above and beyond by creating a kind and inviting atmosphere to show that we actually care. Because for some of these people, this might be the only time they actually get to have family dinner. In fact, this might be the only dinner they get that isn't pulled from a trashcan. This might be the one nutritious actual meal they get. I highly doubt most of them eat at restaurants where they are served, and not many people take time to go above and beyond when dealing with them. We could totally have a "get in here, get what you need, and get out" mentality, or we could say, "Welcome, here's your dinner. We're here to serve you, complete stranger, because we love Jesus. Sure, we don't know each other. Sure, we may never see each other again. But Jesus has provided for us, just as He is providing for you. Don't rush, take your time. Enjoy your dinner."
Jesus goes above and beyond. He could just give us exactly what we need and then quickly send us on our way, but He doesn't. C.S Lewis said, "It's not that we want too much, it's that we settle for so little." And that's true. We come to Jesus and say, "I'm hungry, feed me." And we expect food. That's it. But what we don't expect is that He would go out of His way to shower us with extra blessings. To not only give us food, but to give us extra attention. To make us feel welcomed. To invite us in and let us stay for as long as we'd like. We think that once our needs are met, He's done with us. But that's not the case. His goal isn't to draw you in so that He can quickly send you away. It's to win you over so that you'll keep coming back. To remind you that He sees you, He notices you, and He cares for you. You're more than just what you need. You're His child, His beloved. And so notice it. Notice the extra blessings He prepares for you. Notice how He goes above and beyond for you, and appreciate it. Thank Him that He gives you more than you need, more than you expected. Thank Him that He takes His time and puts for extra effort. And don't rush. Enjoy it, enjoy Him, and take your time. He's in no hurry.
#959 - Because He not only meets our needs, but He goes above and beyond our expectations.
"Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive." - Titus 3:14
This town is packed full of non-profit organizations that greatly help the people in our community. It seems that every soup kitchen is on mission to not only feed the hungry but to clothe them and meet as many of their physical needs as possible. Most of these soup kitchens serve in the name of Jesus, as they either are run out of local churches or funded by local churches. I've been serving at a soup kitchen once a month for the past year, and it has been an eye opening experience. Today, I volunteered to serve with many of my co-workers. A lot of businesses in Lubbock go out and do things in the community. They also alert the news stations so that the reporters can be present to let the community know which business is doing what. But today we served at the soup kitchen not to promote ourselves, not to gain a little attention and notoriety, not to get our name out there and build our customer base, but because Jesus calls us to serve. That should always be our motive.
I've really had to work on my heart over the past year of serving in the soup kitchen. It has caused me to really take a good look at my life. I've been challenged to evaluate my heart each time I've served, and I've learned a lot about myself and about the Lord. Sometimes we think that maybe these small endeavors don't really matter. Maybe passing out a plate of food doesn't make that big of a difference for the kingdom. After all, that seems too minor and too easy. We feel like we need to be the ones passing out tracts and coaching people through the sinner's prayer. We need to be pulling them out of addiction and witnessing a God-sized transformation in their lives. We need to have that "Do you know where you're going when you die?" conversation with them so that we can lead them to Christ. And so handing out a plate of food seems trivial. It seems insignificant. But to a hungry person, I think it's a pretty big deal.
I sat the tables before we put out drinks and silverware, and part of me wondered why we should go to such lengths to decorate. I thought, "I don't know that anyone will even notice or care that the tables are decorated." The truth is, these people are coming in hungry. They are expecting food, and I figured that table décor is the least of their concerns. But I thought about the fact that we could simply give them what they are expecting, which is a plate of food, or we could go above and beyond by creating a kind and inviting atmosphere to show that we actually care. Because for some of these people, this might be the only time they actually get to have family dinner. In fact, this might be the only dinner they get that isn't pulled from a trashcan. This might be the one nutritious actual meal they get. I highly doubt most of them eat at restaurants where they are served, and not many people take time to go above and beyond when dealing with them. We could totally have a "get in here, get what you need, and get out" mentality, or we could say, "Welcome, here's your dinner. We're here to serve you, complete stranger, because we love Jesus. Sure, we don't know each other. Sure, we may never see each other again. But Jesus has provided for us, just as He is providing for you. Don't rush, take your time. Enjoy your dinner."
Jesus goes above and beyond. He could just give us exactly what we need and then quickly send us on our way, but He doesn't. C.S Lewis said, "It's not that we want too much, it's that we settle for so little." And that's true. We come to Jesus and say, "I'm hungry, feed me." And we expect food. That's it. But what we don't expect is that He would go out of His way to shower us with extra blessings. To not only give us food, but to give us extra attention. To make us feel welcomed. To invite us in and let us stay for as long as we'd like. We think that once our needs are met, He's done with us. But that's not the case. His goal isn't to draw you in so that He can quickly send you away. It's to win you over so that you'll keep coming back. To remind you that He sees you, He notices you, and He cares for you. You're more than just what you need. You're His child, His beloved. And so notice it. Notice the extra blessings He prepares for you. Notice how He goes above and beyond for you, and appreciate it. Thank Him that He gives you more than you need, more than you expected. Thank Him that He takes His time and puts for extra effort. And don't rush. Enjoy it, enjoy Him, and take your time. He's in no hurry.
#959 - Because He not only meets our needs, but He goes above and beyond our expectations.
"Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive." - Titus 3:14
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