This past week I found myself in a new position. I needed
to mow my yard and did not have a working mower. One of my first “paying”
jobs as a boy was mowing grass for others. Therefore, I always had a
mower. This week, however, a number of circumstances conspired to leave
me with tall grass and no mower. So, I borrowed a mower. Here are some
of the lessons I learned
1) The mower was sitting in my yard. All I did was ask
for a favor, and the mower was delivered. What a testimony to kindness
in action. As God is kind to man, we have the charge to be kind to each
other. “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping
for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the
children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the
evil” (Luke 6:35). My brother was under no obligation to help
me. This was not a matter of life and death. The only danger at hand
was that the grass would get a little taller before I was able to repair
the now broken mower. That is what made the loan of this mower an act
of kindness and not an act of duty. Such kindness is becoming increasingly
remarkable and is therefore the sweeter when it is demonstrated.
2) The mower arrived exactly when my brother said it would. The Bible
teaches that we should be true to our word. “But I say unto you,
Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by
the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is
the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because
thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication
be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of
evil” (Matt. 5:34-37). We should not have to “shake on it,”
“sign the line,” or sware an oath for our word to be reliable.
We should be known as dependable. If we say we will do a thing, we ought
to do it. My brother brought his mower exactly when he said he would-a
remarkable thing.
3) The mower had fresh grease oozing out of a lubricated joint. I don’t
know if my brother lubed the mower just because he was bringing it to
me to use or if it was part of his regular maintenance program. Either
way, it shows that he was preparing for the future. There is no need
to lubricate a joint after it fails. But, lubing a joint regularly will
keep it from failing and make it last much longer before it wears out.
That kind of farsighted preparation, applied to spiritual matters, will
keep one out of trouble here on earth and cause one to render the obedience
that brings salvation. “O that they were wise, that they understood
this, that they would consider their latter end” (Deut. 32:29)!
4) The brother who loaned me the mower is unnamed in this article. That
is not because I am not grateful. I am very grateful. He is unnamed
because I believe that would be his desire. He is not one who seeks
credit or longs for thanks. He would not think of his assistance to
me this week as anything unusual, because such behavior is not unusual
for him. Acts of kindness and assistance are common, even everyday,
events for him. He often reminds me of those who were separated to the
right by the Good Shepherd of Matthew chapter twenty-five. When faced
by the Judge with all the good things they had done they replied, “When
saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? Or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee” (Matt.
25:38-39)? Those righteous people in Matthew twenty-five and the brother
not named in this article have made a lifestyle out of serving others.
For them it is as common as awaking to a sun that rises in the east.
The fact that there are so few who put the Bible’s teachings into
action makes this brother remarkable.
These are some of the things that crossed my mind this past week as
I tooled around the yard on a borrowed mower. To this brother, and all
others who make life a journey of service, I say thank you. I also offer
the admonition of Paul to the Galatians, “And let us not be weary
in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not”
(Gal. 6:9).
Service to others is an act of sacrifice. Albert Barnes,
in his commentary on Rom. 1:1 said of the word servant, “It expresses
the condition of one who has a master, or who is at the control of another.”
Let us grow to the point that we see the simplest acts of selfless service
as a noble triumphs over Satan. Let us grow to the point that we see
service as the natural indicator that we are the possession of God.
P.S. Thanks for the use of the mower.
