Minister's letter - February 2012
‘…Those who help others are helped.’
Over Christmas and into this New Year I have been particularly blessed as I have watched people around the churches giving of themselves and their time to bless others. This way of ‘Kingdom living’ transforms lives and situations and brings glory to the God we serve.
One night, during the 1960s an African-American woman stood beside an Alabama highway in a terrible rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride, so she flagged down a car. When she did, something happened that was virtually unheard of in those radically charged years. A young white man stopped, drove her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab. Though the woman was in a hurry, when she thanked him she wrote down his address.
To the man’s surprise, a week later a colour television was delivered to his home with a note that read, ‘Thank you for helping me on the highway the other night. The rain had drenched not only my clothes but my spirits. Because you came along I made it to my dying husband’s bedside before he passed away. God bless you for unselfishly serving others. Signed: Mrs Nat King Cole.’ Every day, opportunities to serve are coming toward you or passing you right by. Learn to see them and seize them!
God says, ‘The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.’ And while you shouldn’t do it to just get something back, the Bible says, ‘The Lord will bless…and prosper everything you do…if you…obey Him…’ (Deuteronomy 28 verses 8 – 9).
One day, a humble Scottish farmer named Fleming saved the life of a nobleman’s son who was mired in a bog. Next day, the boy’s father visited the farm and offered to repay him, but the farmer wouldn’t hear of it. Just then the farmer’s son came to the door and the nobleman said, ‘Then let me pay to educate your boy to the same standard as mine, and if he turns out to be half the man his father is, we’ll both be proud.’ Fleming agreed and the boy attended the best schools, eventually graduating from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London.
You’ve probably heard of him – Sir Alexander Fleming, the man who discovered the miracle drug – Penicillin, saving millions of lives. Years later when the same nobleman’s son developed pneumonia, guess what saved his life? Penicillin! And what was this nobleman’s name? Lord Randolph Churchill. And his son’s name? Sir Winston Churchill.
It’s the harvest law. You may not reap when or where you sow – but you’ll reap what you sow.
Perhaps the beginning of this New Year would be a good time to consider what we can do, in whatever way, to help others in our community. Who knows what God will do as we continue to bless others!
Every blessing for this New Year
Jon