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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion Friday, July 4, 2003 "Contributing to the Cause" |
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Frontline Devotion for Friday, July 4, 2003 By Pastor Dave Sonnenberg
Scripture: Numbers 1: 1-19
My daughter is on the swimming team at our local pool. It’s kind of an interesting thing to watch. As I’ve never been very interested in swimming, I’m learning a lot about the sport. I’ve been amazed at what coaching can do for the swimmer. My daughter was doggie paddling a little over a month ago. Now, she is a pretty good little swimmer- thanks to the tutoring of good coaches and the helpful enthusiasm of the junior coaches.
As part of the swim team experience, parents are expected to help out in a variety of ways. Maybe that means cooking burgers at a meet, or bringing food, or making phone calls, or helping with the actual swim meet. I had my first experience last night as a timer. Basically, I had a stop watch and was responsible for recording the time of all the swimmers in lane 6. It was pretty basic stuff. You click the stop watch as soon as this little light goes off and click it again when the swimmer touches the wall at the end of the race.
What I discovered is that the meet went quickly as I helped out. I stayed interested because I was making some kind of contribution. And, it was sort of fun/ I think the other thing that is interesting is that in this massive amount of people (350+est), I’ll bet there aren’t too many people who even noticed that I was contributing, which is not a problem. The coaches had other things to do. The swimmers had to get ready. The cooks were busy cooking. The other helpers were busy focusing on their own tasks. All that is kind of neat. In a sea of busyness, I made a quiet contribution and had some fun. It doesn’t matter if anyone noticed for I contributed.
I am reading the book of Numbers right now. In that book and in many other places in the Old Testament, there are massive lists of names. As one reads over these lists, it can be very easy to skim over those names or ignore them altogether. For example, my devotional time yesterday found me reading Numbers 1: 1-19. In that, God is speaking to Moses and telling him to count the Israelites so that they are prepared for the days to come, especially as they prepared for battle. In verses 6-15, God names a list of people who are to help organize this massive counting.
I must confess that I am one who usually gets bored with massive lists, but I wrote in my journal yesterday- “in a massive world, with countless people- our call from God is to make our mark by contributing to the greater good. We do not contribute for glory or recognition. We contribute because God has asked us to play a part in his world.”
On this Fourth of July, I wish you joy and happiness. As many of you rest this day from the hectic demands of life, remember that each day on the Frontlines of this world is an opportunity to contribute to God’s Kingdom here on earth. The time to contribute is now!
Prayer: Lord God, help us to contribute to your work in this world. Help us to do it because you have invited us into that work, not because we need recognition and press. Give us the joy that comes from doing your work alongside others. Amen.
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All are welcome to join and share in our Devotional Ministry. Pastor Dave welcomes and appreciates feedback. pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org.