Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “A life of service”
Our Bible verse for today: “When Jobs three friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him … Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.” Job 2:11; 13 (NLT)
Our thought for today: “You can serve people by simply being with them.”
Most of the book of Job centers around Job’s inspiring faithfulness in the midst of tragic circumstances, and also on the lack of compassion on the parts of his three friends. But, his three friends started off well. Even though their words to Job quickly became unhelpful and even mean-spirited, they did start out well.
We read in Job Chapter two that when the friends heard about the cascading series of casualties that had befallen their friend Job, they quickly dropped what they were doing, packed a suitcase, and went to visit him. Then when they got there they didn’t do or say anything; without words they simply entered into his time of grief with him. This is empathy. They empathized with him and they shared in his grief. It was good. It was very good.
Sometimes the best thing we can do for a person is to simply be with them. You don’t have to do or say anything. Instead you can just comfort them with your presence. It’s a way of showing how much you love them and how much you care about what they’re going through. We call it “The ministry of presence.” You bless people just by being with them.
Benjamin Franklin once wrote, “Do you value life? Then value your time because time is the stuff life is made of.” I’ve restated that quote in modern English, and so that’s not exactly the way Franklin said it, but his point is the same: You only have so many years, months, weeks, days, hours and seconds allotted to you. Once each segment of time has passed, it has passed forever and you can’t have it back. Time is the stuff life is made of. So when you give a person some of your time, you have given them a little piece of your life.
Think about that: One of the greatest gifts you can ever give a person is some of your time because when you have given them some of your time, you have given them some of your life, and it’s a part of your life you can never have back. That’s what makes the ministry of presence such a special thing.
When it comes to living a life of service, sometimes the best way to serve someone is to simply be with them.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 