November 09, 2020

Support Matters

 Devotion for the Week...

If this pandemic has taught us anything, it is that the people in the lowest paid jobs in our society are some of the most essential. The majority of the people who work in our grocery stores, in restaurants and in warehouses shipping packages are almost always paid the bare minimum wage and yet we've discovered that we really can't function as a society without them. There's definitely something wrong with that! Unfortunately, with our collective obsession with paying the least amount possible for everything, it's going to be hard to fix the imbalance. Can you imagine what the world would look like if people were paid according to the importance of the work they do?

The system God uses to determine rewards looks markedly different from ours. Just look at this passage from Matthew 10 - "If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded" ( vv. 41, 42).

Most people would say prophets deserves a big reward for the work they do. They speak for God, after all. But in this passage Jesus says that anyone who receives the prophet will be given the same reward as the prophet. When He says receive He means to offer care and hospitality, to help to sustain the prophet or to offer practical help to the prophet in any way. Verse 42 really emphasizes the fact that this doesn't require huge, sacrificial acts of service as Jesus says giving even a cup of cold water is sufficient.
Even a cup of cold water matters | DevotedQuilter.com
Background quilt is Level Up

We often look at the people doing the more visible kinds of ministry (pastors, teachers, musicians, authors, missionaries) and think they're doing the most important things. These verses tell a different story. These verses say that the support we give to our pastors, etc. is just as important. Though we may not think what we do matters, God says it does. A cup of cold water isn't much, after all, but God sees it as being worthy of reward.

5 comments:

  1. How true that we do need those who go to work every day for minimum wage. I am trying to make sure they know how much I appreciate it.

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  2. Thank you so very much for this devotion. I also have vowed to make sure that I call that person by name. Either by name badge or by asking and to say Thank You. Just something I do to make them smile!

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  3. I haven't been in a grocery store since February because of illness. Before that, I would make a point of calling the cashier by name and thanking them and asking about their day. But this devotional has challenged me to consider writing a short note and include a small gift card from someplace like Panera.

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  4. Your points are spot-on! God values every person, no matter what they do... or even if they're "bad." Everyone is redeemable, and it's our commission to help them see the light - for them to know that they're "children of the day" - 1 Thessalonians 5:5.

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  5. A church that we attended once listed the various pastors on their bulletin - Lead Pastor, Minister of Music, etc. and then listed the Missionaries - all of us! We often forget that people watch other people all the time - and what we say and do is our witness. (I often reminded our kids that "we might be the only Bible some people read"!)

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