Daily Devotional for September 21, 2022

Shannon and I have a beautiful garden filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, acorn squash, yellow squash, bell peppers, jalapenos, okra, serrano peppers, potatoes, radishes, poblano peppers, lettuce, onions, Habanero peppers, and blooming pumpkin vines hanging from multiple trellises.
 
For most of the summer, the temperatures were so hot, the goal was just keeping the plants from burning up.  Now that the temperatures are not blisteringly hot, the garden has truly blossomed.  It is a sight to behold.
 
The reason we are successful gardeners is because Shannon and I have devised an effective division of labor.
 
She plants, weeds, waters, and harvests.  I eat.  It works well.
 
This got me thinking.
 
Very early in the history of Christianity, they realized the church would only survive and thrive by an effective division of labor. (Acts 6:1-6). Two thousand years later, nothing’s changed.
 
In order for our church to succeed and make a difference in people’s lives by telling and demonstrating Jesus’ love, each of us must do our part.
 
This is why Paul said, “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” (Romans 12:4-5)  
 
Our church is not a place for those who want to be waited on.  It’s a place where we go to serve.  And by serving others, we serve the God who created, redeemed, and sustains us.
 
The reason our church succeeds is because we have devised an effective division of labor.
 
You plant, weed, water, and harvest.  I eat.  It works well.
 
Prayer:  Dear Gracious Heavenly God, please bless our church as we serve you by serving the world.  Help each of us shine your beauty, joy, and love into this dark, loveless world.  Remind each of us there’s no such thing as a passive Christian.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.
 
I’m glad we had this moment today to clear up any misconceptions as to what my job is.  I eat.  It works well.
 
I pray your day is filled with joy and laughter.
Tom Robbins