MINISTRY,
IMPORTANCE OF

TURKEYS are interested in one thing: eating. They can’t fly. They try, but they don’t go anywhere. They just take food in and waddle around. Wherever you see them, they are waddling—waddling and eating, but not flying.

There are a lot of Christian turkeys today. They waddle in on Sunday morning and sit down to be fed. Then they get up and waddle out. Then they waddle back next Sunday to be fed before waddling out again … and they wonder why they can’t fly anywhere and why they are stuck at ground level.634

[Christian Living, Spiritual Growth; Family of God; Service, Motivation for]

Mark 10:43–45; Eph. 6:7

THERE’S a clever young guy named Somebody Else. There’s nothing this guy can’t do. He’s busy from morning to way late at night just substituting for you. You’re asked to do this or you’re asked to do that and what is your ready reply? Get Somebody Else to do that job; he’ll do it much better than I. So much to do in this weary old world—so much and workers are few. Somebody Else, all weary and worn, is still substituting for you.

The next time you’re asked to do something worthwhile, just give this ready reply: “If Somebody Else can give time and support, my goodness, so can I.” Stop giving Somebody Else your job. Become a servant and watch what God will do for you, because He can also do it through you. You will discover it really is more blessed to give than to receive. What kind of servant are you?635

[Sacrifice; Service, Motivation for]

Mark 10:43–45; Acts 20:35

WOODY Hayes was speaking at a commencement exercise at Ohio State University. He was speaking to the graduates, giving them a challenge for life, and he said to them, “You can never pay back what this school has done for you. Even the money you paid didn’t completely pay for the quality of education you received at Ohio State University. You can’t pay it back. It’s an investment that will last you for the rest of your life. However, even though you can’t pay it back, you can pay it forward.”

That concept became a movie, Pay It Forward. The idea was to pass along to somebody else the blessing that had been received from the school. Alumni Associations in colleges regularly call upon the alumni to reinvest in others, because of the education that they themselves have received. It is a call to sharing.636

[Gratefulness; Stewardship]

Deut. 15:10; Matt. 10:8; Luke 12:48