Listen

After leaving the synagogue, Jesus, James, and John went home with Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed, sick with a fever, and they told Jesus about her at once. He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she served them.

Mark 1:29-31

Think

I’ve got stuff I have to do — or — I have stuff I get to do. When I have a task to be done, I can take either view. But how I look at the task in front of me determines what and how I see, and I respond accordingly. Perspective is key. It shapes what and how we see.

When Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law, she got up and “served them.” Some see serving others as something they have to do rather than something they get to do, but perhaps Peter’s mother-in-law saw her act of service as an opportunity to show gratitude to Jesus for healing her.

Extending ourselves to meet the needs of another person can be an act of generosity, an expression of gratitude, appreciation, or affection, and when done in the right spirit can benefit the one serving as much as the one being served. Serving, then, becomes a thing, not that we have to do, but that we are blessed to do. How do you choose to respond to Christ’s touch?

Kathy Culmer

Pray

When my vision gets too narrow, Lord, change the angle of my lens so that I might take a different view of the things in front of me to do. Help me to see them not so much as all the stuff I have to do, but as all that I am blessed to do. It is a gift, both to do, and to be able to. May I, by your grace, have the attitude and gratitude to have a higher view… and do… what I am able to do. I am blessed to bless. Amen.

Go

When we trust God, we do not have to face life’s challenges alone.

It is through our weakness, the things we cannot do on our own,

That God’s strength is made known.