A Shovel and a Heart to Serve

“Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered” (Proverbs 11:25, ESV).

Many souls are in need of a long, cool drink and languish as they guzzle down the few remaining drops of what they have left.

Contents of a makeshift cup hold them over, if only for a little while, as they secretly long for a day when their dehydrated soul will find rest.

A permanent fill, however, is searched for in all the wrong places, leading them to the temporary fix of false refreshment.

At the end of the day, we’re no different. We’re all in need of a long, cool drink. But unlike temporary waters, His living water never runs dry. When we drink this water, we not only feel refreshed but are blessed by the wonderful truth that we serve a God who is generous.

In the same way that He is generous with us, we should be with others.

Matthew 20:28 says, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (NIV).

Serving is at the heart of who God is.

“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them” (Hebrews 6:10, NIV).

God’s love and generosity should lead us to do the same, instilling in us a heart to serve. Proverbs 11:25 shows us what happens as a result of this:

“Whoever brings blessing will be enriched...”

In turn, enrichment, in the context of food, means “having added nutrients'' while nutrient is defined as “a substance that provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life.” But let’s rework this a little bit with serving as the substance:

“[Serving] provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of [a Godly] life.”

As a result, serving is essential and pours into both the servant and the one being served. I can attest to this as I’ve reaped much spiritually through serving others, especially through Praise’s last Serve Day, where I was watered greatly before I had even reached the church. Here is the story of that morning:

6/12/2021

I went to Walmart this morning to get some last-minute gardening tools for the tasks/projects of my volunteer group.

In doing so, I met this sweet older lady in one of the gardening aisles and told her that all I was really looking for was a simple gardening shovel.

Prior to this, I’d asked an employee where they might be and she directed me to the aisle that the older lady and I were both now standing in.

The lady and I looked and looked and looked in a number of places and in doing so began to strike up a conversation with one another.

I mentioned that I had very little gardening experience and that I was just looking for a couple of smaller items/tools to help in volunteering with my church.

Even though we were doing something as simple as searching around we had such a pleasant and light-hearted conversation in just a short amount of time.

When we finally stopped looking—after coming to terms with the fact that they didn’t have any smaller shovels—I had already concluded in my mind that I’d have to run to a different store. The time to do so, however, was running thin.

Plot twist:

This is where the blessing happens as the older lady just so happens to be someone who gardens frequently and who planted 300 flower beds one season! In turn, she asked that I wait with her shopping cart while she ran to her car. (She wanted to check and see if she had a smaller shovel of her own stored away somewhere.)

When she came back I helped her ring up her groceries and as we walked outside together she handed me two items: a pair of brand new trimmers—that she had bought in-store—and the shovel (trowel) that she had grabbed from her trunk.

She asked me if she could give me a hug and I told her thank you in the midst of holding back tears.

What she said will stay with me forever:

‘This is what the Lord expects of us.’

To give and to love go hand-in-hand and to give love is priceless.

In this same way, serving is giving. You might sweat a little bit and get your hands dirty but may your heart stay clean. Most importantly, may you never forget the source of your love and the reason behind your servitude:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24, NIV).

So grab a shovel and start digging! You might be surprised by the wonderful blessings you find once you’ve reached the bottom!