Watching my son perform a simple task challenged my spirit. Am I using my God-given abilities for the glory of the Lord?
We’d been in the pool, soaking in the late rays of summer.
“I can sew, Mrs. Hoffman,” seven-year-old Isaiah said to my friend Teresa.
“You can?” Teresa asked. She swam close to him. “Tell me.”
“My Nana taught me. I can sew buttons.”
I listened as the conversation went deeper. Teresa encouraged Isaiah, and he beamed with joy. My friend shared that her own son needed buttons sewn on his shorts, and my little guy acquired a job.
Later in the week, I watched as Isaiah fastened buttons to Joshua’s shorts with long, careful stitches. His blond bangs fell forward, and his tongue hooked around the side of his smile. Pierce and pull. In and out. Up and down. Isaiah was focused and intentional. He took this commission seriously. He wanted to do his best.
Sitting there beside my son, I thought about a story Jesus told.
In The Parable of the Talents, a master sent three servants out with talents of money, according to individual ability, and he went away on a journey. While he was gone, two servants put the money to work and made more. The third was afraid, and he dug a hole and hid the talents in the ground. When the master returned, this servant was reprimanded. But the two who used their talents to gain more were praised.
“His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21 NIV)
The life application can be simple.
Am I using the abilities, gifts, resources that I’ve been given to reach others for Christ and to bring glory to the Lord? Am I handling my opportunities well?
Or am I complacent? Distracted? Focused on temporal and of-this-world things?
The question lingered as I watched my son wriggle the button to see if the attachment was secure. When he saw that it was, he used his blunt-end scissors to cut the thread. Then he tied a careful knot.
Teresa would be happy with the quality of Isaiah’s intentional, careful work.
“Well done,” I knew she’d say.
And with fresh passion breathed into my life-focus, I hoped that on the day I meet the Lord, He will say the same.
