WHAT KIND OF EXAMPLE ARE YOU?
It is said that for many years Monterey, a California coast town, was a pelican’s paradise. As the fishermen cleaned their fish, they flung the innards to the pelicans. The birds grew fat, lazy, and contented. Eventually, however the innards were utilized, and there were no longer snacks for the pelicans. When the change came the pelicans made no effort to fish for themselves. They waited around and grew gaunt and thin. Many starved to death. They had forgotten how to fish for themselves.
By the way. I wonder sometimes if we have grown fat and lazy as believers hoping that someone is going to do everything for the Lord. Someone else will greet in the morning. Someone else will take care of the children’s ministry. Someone else will clean and care for the fellowship. Someone else surely is a busy person.
The problem in Monterey was solved by importing new pelicans from the south, birds accustomed to foraging for themselves. They were placed among their starving cousins, and the newcomers immediately started catching fish. Before long, the hungry pelicans followed suit, and the famine was ended.
What happened? In the animal kingdom, like in the world we live in, examples need to be followed. What kind of example are you? How powerful would the church be if it weren’t someone else’s job but our own?
(From a sermon by Ty Tamasaka, Running With a Limp, 9/9/2011)