Soil your hands!

Once, Navjot Singh Sidhu, a former Parliament member from Amritsar, visited Mother Theresa at the Missionaries of Charity, Calcutta.  Sidhu shared the experience of his first meeting with Mother Teresa at Missionaries of Charity in a TV show.  Recalling the moments, Sidhu said, first of all, he did not need any appointment to meet Mother, but he had to meet her while she was tending to the sick and the dying!  He had visited Mother Teresa to offer a donation, but she told him that he could dump it in the dustbin!  But she invited him to 'soil his hands.'  Mother Theresa did not want his money but his time!  This truly challenged me!

All of us cannot be Mother Teresa, but we are called to be servants of Christ in our own ways.  The Great Commission is not for a select few who become Pastors and Preachers but for everyone who believes.   Obeying the Great Commission is not about donating money but about getting involved.  It is about giving ourselves to the cause of Christ.  The Bible says, " … the Son of Man did not come expecting to be served by everyone, but to serve everyone, and to give his life as the ransom price in exchange for the salvation of many" (Mark 10:45). Jesus said, "The greatest among you will be your servant" (Matthew 23:11).  Serving others involves more than simply our actions.  It involves our hearts and attitudes toward each other while we are serving.  It involves love.  Serving one another as Christ served involves treating others with honor and respect.  Once again, we can look to Jesus as an example of this.  Jesus did not serve begrudgingly but instead served with humility and love.  

My friend,  if you want to serve Jesus, look around you.  You will see people who need a kind word or a loving touch.  You will find people who need some advice or some physical help.  You will find people who need your time.  Jesus said that whatever we do to the least of our neighbors, we do for Him.  It is not always about money.  Giving ourselves first matters to Jesus.  Love for Jesus puts the love for others in our hearts!  The Bible says that If we do not have that kind of love, we are only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal!  With God's help, let us 'soil our hands' in serving the people around us with love!

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