body of Christ - cmi sealed orders #3 - "who do you think you are?"

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

1 Corinthians 12:27

 

You wake up in the middle of the night and you are hungry.  The glowing numbers on the clock on your dresser show that it’s too late to wake anyone but too long to wait for breakfast.  It’s time for a midnight snack.

You roll out of bed as quietly as you can and grope around in the dark.  After all, you want to make this trip to the refrigerator alone.  As you reach the door, a searing pain shoots up from your foot.  You forgot about the table by the door and stubbed your toe.

You are still committed to silence, but suddenly your body is distracted from hunger and goes into pain management mode.  Your face contorts and your leg lifts your sore foot to meet your hand reaching from the other side.  The other foot hops around in sympathy for its hurting partner.

“You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it,” says Paul.  So what do you do if someone else – another part of the body – is hurting? 

Think about the last time you heard about someone going through a tough time in life.   Maybe you saw a post on Facebook.  Maybe you overheard a conversation.  Maybe a friend came to you in confidence with a difficult issue, wanting a listening ear, advice, reassurance.

How did you react?  Did you turn to help, sympathize and understand, or instead did you avoid, ignore or minimize the problem?

How should one member of the body of Christ react to another who is in need?

Think about someone you know who is going through a tough time.  Pray about that person right now.  Ask God to show you how he wants you to respond to your fellow body part while they are in pain.

In the remaining moments ask God to fill you with his love for others in his body, the church.