“There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord” (1 Corinthians 12: 5).

If you had the ability to give someone a special talent or gift—like, for example, the ability to fly—wouldn’t you expect them to use it? I’m sure you would. 

Well, God gives us special talents or gifts. And I’m sure he expects us to use them. 

Instead of this simply being “one more thing to do,” this is joy, opportunity, usefulness and faithfulness all at the same time.

Consider the cab driver who responded to a call at a small home. I heard about his story online. He honked, no one answered. He could have left but felt a nudge to go to the door. 

An elderly lady finally answered. She had a suitcase and her house was empty. She was leaving it for the last time.

The driver was told the address and started the meter. The lady requested a certain route, but it wasn’t the shortest distance.

“I’m in no hurry,” she said. “I’m on my way to hospice.” She was dying and no longer had any family. She wanted to take her time and drive past locations that had been special throughout her life. 

The cab driver turned off the meter. They drove past the building where she worked as an elevator operator, the neighbourhood where she and her husband lived as newlyweds, and a place that used to be a ballroom where she had danced as a girl. 

They drove around for two hours. They talked, connected, and eventually hugged.

Perhaps that cab driver had a special gift from God. He responded to a “nudge” to go up to her house. He took his time. He listened. He helped. He was kind.

Brian Stiller writes: “[God] entrusts us with certain potential from which He expects a good return. We now have a responsibility to live out God’s life in the world.”*

May God bless your day. And whoever you are, and with whatever gifts you have, may you use them in the service of Jesus.

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Notes:

–The Up Devotional is published 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) and resumes on April 8, 2024.

–*As quoted in: Jon Thompson, Convergence (Sanctus Church, 2018), 84.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.