YOUNG ADULT

THE BLESSING OF BLESSING

My friend, Sonya, loves to tell the story of her arrival at Southern Adventist University, in the United States, several years ago. It had been a long ride from Texas to

Tennessee, squished in the backseat of an over-loaded Buick. The car was barely

parked before Sonya bounded into the dorm to check-in, with all the nervous

enthusiasm of a college freshman. After finding her

room, she took her first steps of independent adulthood—carrying loads of her

stuff from the Buick to her new home.

Sonya’s dad helped with the moving, while her mom sorted everything in

her room. Soon, an older gentleman wearing a “We-Haul” T-shirt came by and

asked if he could help. Sonya thought it

was really nice that people came out to help students move in, and she

definitely needed it. There were lots of

stairs, and she had lots of stuff.

Gradually her dorm room filled with piles of random clothes still on

hangers, her huge ancient desktop computer, giant stuffed fish, and everything

else so important to college-freshman Sonya. “Is that it?” the

older gentlemen kindly asked on one of the last trips from the Buick. Sonya and her parents assured him they could

get the rest, and thanked him for his help.

After he left, Sonya’s dad asked her if she knew who that was. “No,” she said, a

little preoccupied with taking in her big, scary freshman world. “That was the

university president,” her dad said.

He taught about a kingdom where one must have the humility of a child to get in, and where the least are greatest, and the greatest are least. In this Kingdom, the only way to be a person of influence is to serve."

Sonya nearly

choked. The university president had

just finished helping her move all her crazy clothes, huge computer, and giant

stuffed fish into her dorm room! He had never

introduced himself as the president, as someone who deserved her respect and

attention. He had just helped her move

in. Needless to say, Sonya has been a pretty big fan of Dr. Bietz ever

since. Jesus taught about

a kingdom where university presidents help nervous freshmen move into their

dorm rooms. He taught about a kingdom

where one must have the humility of a child to get in, and where the least are

greatest, and the greatest are least. In

this Kingdom, the only way to be a person of influence is to serve. Jesus, the greatest

Influencer of all time, said it best after He humbly washed His disciples’

dirty feet: “Do you understand what I

was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and

‘Lord,’ and you are right, because it is true.

And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to

wash each other’s feet. I have given you

an example to follow. Do as I have done

to you. How true it is that a servant is

not greater than the master. Nor are

messengers more important than the one who sends them. You know these things—now go do them! That is the path of blessing” (Jn 13:12-17, NLT). We are not greater than our Master. That is why He gives us the privilege, as

stewards of influence, to walk the path of blessing through service.



Random

thought...When last did I do a spontaneous act of kindness, or even an intentional

one?