By Katy Mariotti

The Hands and Feet of God

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
John 13:34, New International Version

Anyone who has traveled by plane recently may have experienced some difficulty. On our family vacation this summer we were no exception. We started the day by waking at 4 a.m., only to receive a text at 4:45 that our flight had been delayed for eight hours. As my husband spent several hours on the phone, making changes to our connecting flight, hotel reservations, and car rental, I consoled my daughter, who had never woken up that early before and was SO excited to get going. We got a few minutes more of sleep, headed to the airport finally, checked in, and spent an hour in the security line. Finally, we made it to our gate, only to discover that our flight had been delayed another three hours. After more waiting and a change of airline, we finally made it to our destination!

It was a rough day and made us question ourselves as to why we didn’t choose to do a road trip this year, but the blessing in all of the nonsense is that every person we talked to that day, to change reservations and solve problems, was helpful and friendly.  Even the shuttle driver from the airport to our hotel made cheerful conversation and lifted our spirits.

That’s not to say our day was completely turned around. We were still tired and a bit grumpy, and drained from not only practicing patience for ourselves, but teaching patience to our two small children. I think, though, of how much worse our day could have been if all the workers we came in contact with had been in a bad mood themselves, or had taken the stance of “there’s nothing I can do.” We ended the day thinking with gratitude of everyone who had helped us.

Love is mentioned so very many times in the Bible. Each of us can love one another in many different ways, including the way in which we work. We read in scripture:

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
1 Corinthians 12:27, New International Version

You may have heard the phrase “being the hands and feet of God,” and we can do so by loving one another in whatever way we can.  Perhaps just by being friendly and doing your work efficiently, you will ease someone’s burden on a tough day.

Photo Credit: my 5-year-old son, while waiting around in the airport.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado