Out of Place
Max Lucado once told a story about a musician playing in a D.C metro station. After a day of playing - and accepting donations - the young man made about thirty bucks. Only one person out of thousands that passed by recognized him as renowned violinist Joshua Bell.
Max writes, "You can't fault the instrument. The Stradivarius-built treasure was worth 3.5 million dollars. You can't fault the music. Bell successfully played a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach that Bell called one of the greatest achievements of any man in history. But scarcely anyone noticed. No one expected majesty in such a context."
Wow.
Yesterday at church I sat and listened to the executive director of a ministry that serves Iran. Incredible what God is doing in growing His church in the most seemingly unsuspected places.
Got me thinking about noticing others in the gym, seeing the fitness center and its dwellers as a captive audience; to simply notice; to be ready to serve God when it's time; to see majesty in our context.
When Jesus sent the disciples to all nations to preach the Gospel, He didn't put conditions on it. "Go and make disciples - just not at their place of business, or at school, or in the government, and by no means disturb their workouts." No, on the contrary. It's in the most unlikely of places - and even in the busiest of places with the busiest people - that we're called to see Him in them. "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me."
I say the next time we get to the gym, we keep our eyes open for the one with the violin.
-Jimmy Peña
For Discussion: Do you have someone in mind that you could serve as someone in need? Who do you know or see at the gym each day that may be ignored by everyone (for any number of reasons)? Is God calling you to stop and listen?
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