The Body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:12

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

Did you ever meet one of those people that always seem to be be saying "ow" because they bumped into an inanimate object or stubbed a toe a table leg? Yeah, that's me. Clumsy. 

One particular week was especially full of bumps and bruises for me. On the Fourth of July, my family was invited to a picnic and a group had gotten together for a game of volleyball. I joined a team and the game began. I was doing well for a while when all of a sudden the ball came toward me and I hit it, but in the process, it hit my left thumb hard and kept right on sailing past me.

It hurt. A lot.

I tried to keep playing but soon it became quite obvious to me that it required ice, so ice I went to seek but it was hot and melted quickly.  After a bit, I asked Jason if we could leave the picnic because there was no way I could stand it any longer with no ice pack. It wasn't long before I made up my mind to go to the hospital just to make sure I hadn't done any damage to it that needed attention. It turned out to be a sprain. The doctor splinted it, said to keep ice on it.

A month and a half have passed and I'm still feeling my volleyball injury.

Yeah, I think I have officially retired from volleyball.

That same week, I was opening a can of green beans for dinner and cut my finger on the tin can. Same hand that was already splinted. Bandage coming right up!

That same week I also slipped down some wet steps, smashing the middle toe on my left foot on a metal pole. It turned purple and I limped around for the rest of the week.

Fingers. Toes. They seem so minor, yet as soon as they are injured, you sure notice them and give them all your attention!

It reminded me of the body of Christ. It's easy to feel like your ministry is small and insignificant. You might feel like you are not really needed and what you do wont really matter. Fact is, that's just not true.

Our family helped out with a VBS a few weeks ago at one church in Ohio. Jason was asked to teach a class for boys. Other adults there helped with snacks, crafts, teaching, and music. Everything was already covered. I would be a floater helping with registration and then wherever I could. Seems little. Seems insignificant. But God has given me a love for creating things artistically. So, after I helped with registration, I went around taking pictures of all the activities that we're going on. I was able to present the church with a picture video on the last night of VBS when parents were invited to come for the closing service.

1 Corinthians 12 gives us a great illustration of how the body is one yet has many members. So be in church and serve right where God has put you. No one is little and no one is insignificant. Because when those little fingers and toes are absent from normal use, the body as a whole ceases to work as it did when the fingers and toes were fully functioning.