It Takes Two

In his book, The Pursuit of Excellence, Ted Engstrom tells the story of a preacher who had saved up enough money to buy a few inexpensive acres of land. In the middle of the acreage was a little run-down, weather-beaten farmhouse that stood as a picture of years of neglect. Surrounding the house were old tree stumps, rusted pieces of farm equipment, debris strewn about, as well as a fence on the property that needed some serious repair work. Truly, the whole scene was a mess.

So, the preacher went to work. He rolled up his sleeves, and during vacations and in his spare time, he hauled off the junk, repaired the fence, pulled up weeds, planted new trees, and started a garden. Then he went to work on the house! He repaired the roof, replaced the windows, painted the exterior, put a new stone walkway in the front, and installed some new flower boxes. It took several years to complete but, finally, the work was done, and it looked like a completely new place.

One afternoon while the preacher was putting a new coat of paint on the mailbox, a neighbor who had watched him do the work over the past several years walked over to introduce himself finally. After exchanging formalities he replied, “Preacher, looks like you and the Lord have done a pretty fine job on your place here.” Without missing a beat, the preacher smiled and replied, “Yeah, I suppose so, but you should have seen it when the Lord had it all to Himself.”

I love that story.

It brings to mind a passage found in Matthew’s Gospel. In Matthew 13, Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven this way. He said, “It’s like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 60 pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” (Matt. 13:33) Meaning? The yeast’s job can only be effective when hands are at work kneading it into the entire mixture.

Today, let’s open our eyes and see through God’s eyes. Let’s open our hearts to see the world with the same compassion that Jesus did. And then? Let’s open our hands and join Him in the work of Kingdom building. That, my friends, is a passionate purpose.