March 2020 - LPNI

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March 2020

LPNI Devotion

Being Helpful

“…in this way we must help…” Acts 20:35 (NIV)

It was the normal routine for a Sunday morning. I was putting on my clerical collar and cross to head off to church to lead the worship service. My three-year-old granddaughter asked, “Papa, you going to church?” I replied, “Yes I am.” And then she said, “Papa, today I helpa you!” She meant it. No feelings of being coerced. No doubts about being able to help with the service. Confident and happy at the prospect, she was going to help.

Christians know about helping. It’s part of our calling. We care for the weak and needy, the ill and the lonely, the depressed and the grieving, the confused and conflicted, the guilty and the lost. We know it is important, but we may do it without the enthusiasm we wish we had. We might like to capture some of the excitement of a three-year-old who really wants to help with everything from baking a cake, cutting the lawn, taking the dog for a walk, or conducting a worship service. It could even include caring for people, though that might be more difficult.

When the Apostle Paul was speaking to some in the congregation in Ephesus, as recorded in Acts, chapter 20, he encouraged the people to be vigilant, to continue the mission of Jesus Christ, to build people up, to act in humility, and to work hard to help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” The “more blessed to give,” is often used to encourage financial gifts, but it refers strongly to giving in any way we can to help others.

That’s the message Paul also wrote to the Galatians when he encouraged them to

bear one another's burdens. Galatians 6:2 To the Corinthians he talked about how individual parts of the human body need to work to support the other members and then urged people to remember they were members of the Body of Christ and how vital it was that the members may have the same care for one another. I Corinthians 12:25

I have known people, and I am sure you have, too, who seem pleased to help others in a variety of ways. What to some might be drudgery they approach with a very positive attitude. It’s as though they set out to be of assistance with a joyful spirit that conveys the sense, as it were, of “I helpa you!”

I think of those in the nursing profession. Certainly, their tasks are not always joyous ones but often difficult. There are disappointments. Still, there are many with the wonderful God-given attitude of wanting to help. All those for whom this is true need to be commended and appreciated. It may not be expressed in exactly the same way, but for them it’s from a heart dedicated to the task and the strong and joyful expression in word and deed of something such as “I helpa you!”

Paul Devantier, M.Div., M.S., LL.D.

Speaker, syndicated BY THE WAY radio program

2509 Schuman Road

Arbor Vitae, WI 54568

USA

571-235-1616

pauldevantier@gmail.com