This past Tuesday morning, Kayla came to my office as a messenger from the quilters and informed me that lunch was ready.  (The quilters are gracious enough to let me eat with them each week.)  After telling me about lunch, Kayla then excitingly told me that she was doing some work with the ladies.  She was helping to stack some of the material that was being cut.  This made me think of Jesus’ words, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.  Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein” (Mark 10:14-15).  Of course, there are many admirable traits commonly found in children - traits that we need to strive to mimic in our attitudes and lives as Christians - humility, trust, compassion, willingness to forgive, a desire to learn, etc.  Yet, Kayla’s words reminded me of another wonderful trait - a desire to work.

     My grandpa and his brother owned the Honda motorcycle dealership in Joplin, MO for a number of years.  It was a family run business.  My mom, aunt, grandma and uncle also worked there.  Therefore, during the summer months (when we were not in school), my brother and I spent a lot of time there.  We did a number of things to keep ourselves occupied and “out of the way” of the customers and workers.  Yet, there was one thing in particular that we always wanted to do - help -  somehow, someway, doing something.  Of the various ways we were “put to work,” a special treat was “armor-all-ing” the seats and tires of all the motorcycles.  Even if the seats were already layered so thick in armor-all that a person could hardly keep from sliding off of them, my brother and I thought they needed yet another layer.  It wasn’t until years later that we learned that our “treat” was actually free labor.  When I think back on those days, I still smile and wonder - “What was so special about ‘armor-all-ing’ those bikes?”  Primarily, it was the satisfaction of being able to help - being allowed to work - of contributing in some way or another.   

     As Christians, we should have a desire to work in the church -to help  somehow, someway, doing something.  We should consider it a “treat” to help our Heavenly Father with His work.  Rest assured that He notices it and appreciates it.  However, we don’t do the work of the Lord to be noticed.  We do the work of the Lord to glorify God and help in the process of saving and edifying souls.  Simply put:  God deserves our effort.

     So, as we sometimes sing:  “To the work, to the work, we are servants of God…”