Deferred Benefits

I remember growing up on the farm and my Dad would haul grain into the elevator and the agent there would ask if Dad wanted the payment now or later.  Sometimes Dad would tell him that he wanted to "defer" his payment till a later date.  So even though the grain was sold now, the payment didn't come till later on.

I've been doing better lately with getting up in the mornings and going for runs to get some exercise, but I find that my body REALLY doesn't like the idea of getting started.  But I find that once I get going and finish up my run, my body feels really quite good.  Here again, the initial effort put forward doesn't bring the reward till later on.

I've been thinking about this with regard to the church Body (Family) as well.  We find ourselves all-too-busy in our lives today, and it seems very difficult to imagine offering time to the ministry of the Body we find ourselves in.  It becomes a very difficult task to make the initial efforts to step into service, but once we do we find the deferred benefits come flowing in.

I am reminded of a speaker who was at our church not long ago and he spoke of the blessings that come from God when as a body of believers we begin to serve each other with the gifts that God has given us.  At one time he said something like "It's not OK for you to bow out. . . ." meaning: "You have been gifted and you have been given a place to serve and minister--go for it!"

The examples just keep flowing into my mind:  the idea of confessing a sin is often terrifying and hard, we don't want to step into that.  But when we do, the benefit of forgiveness and freedom is immense! 

Being a part of the Family is not something that is optional for God's children.  Being a part of that Family means that you are in a group that receives blessings from the Father.  He has designed us to obediently respond to His invitations to serve others because it blesses others and in turn (and after the fact) blesses us.

How is your Father calling you to serve?  Are you scared?  Does it "hurt" to imagine stepping into roles of service that make you uncomfortable?

Consider the "deferred blessing" that happens when we obediently follow our God--it could change lives forever!

BT