Servant
Illustrations
In
1972, NASA
launched the exploratory space probe Pioneer 10. According to Leon
Jaroff in Time, the satellite's primary mission was to reach
Jupiter, photograph the planet and its moons, and beam data to
earth about Jupiter's magnetic field, radiation belts, and
atmosphere. Scientists regarded this as a bold plan, for at that
time no earth satellite had ever gone beyond Mars, and they feared
the asteroid belt would destroy the satellite before it could
reach its target. But Pioneer 10 accomplished its mission and
much, much more. Swinging past the giant planet in November
1973, Jupiter's immense gravity hurled Pioneer 10 at a higher rate
of speed toward the edge of the solar system. At one billion miles
from the sun, Pioneer 10 passed Saturn. At some two billion miles,
it hurtled past Uranus; Neptune at nearly three billion miles;
Pluto at almost four billion miles. By 1997, twenty-five years
after its launch, Pioneer 10 was more than six billion miles from
the sun.
And
despite that immense distance, Pioneer 10 continued to beam back
radio signals to scientists on Earth. "Perhaps most
remarkable," writes Jaroff, "those signals emanate from
an 8-watt transmitter, which radiates about as much power as a
bedroom night light, and takes more than nine hours to reach
Earth.'" The Little Satellite That Could was not qualified to
do what it did. Engineers designed Pioneer 10 with a useful life
of just three years. But it kept going and going. By simple
longevity, its tiny 8-watt transmitter radio accomplished more
than anyone thought possible.
So
it is when we offer ourselves to serve the Lord. God can work even
through someone with 8-watt abilities. God cannot work, however,
through someone who quits.
Philippians 3:12-14 Hebrews 12:1 Mark
10:45
The
great violinist, Niccolo Paganini willed his marvelous violin to
city of Genoa on condition that it must never be played. The wood
of such an instrument, while used and handled, wears only
slightly, but set aside, it begins to decay. Paganini's lovely
violin has today become worm-eaten and useless except as a relic.
A Christian's unwillingness to serve may soon destroy his capacity
for usefulness.
John
Kenneth Galbraith, in his autobiography, A Life in Our Times,
illustrates the devotion of Emily Gloria Wilson, his family's
housekeeper: It had been a wearying day, and I asked Emily to hold
all telephone calls while I had a nap. Shortly thereafter the
phone rang. Lyndon Johnson was calling from the White House.
"Get me Ken Galbraith. This is Lyndon Johnson." "He
is sleeping, Mr. President. He said not to disturb him."
"Well, wake him up. I want to talk to him." "No,
Mr. President. I work for him, not you. When I called the
President back, he could scarcely control his pleasure. "Tell
that woman I want her here in the White House."
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