An Arm and A Leg!

“But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”
1 Corinthians 12:18-20 (NIV)

Yesterday was President’s Day. Originally dedicated to honor our first president, George Washington, we now often associate it with President Lincoln as well as the many other presidents who have served this great country. I must be honest, until recent years the most meaningful part of this holiday for me was the fact that it meant a day off of school. Maybe it’s maturity or the fact that I now live only 45 minutes from our nation’s capital, but holidays such as President’s Day seem to hold much more meaning now.

When we first moved to Northern Virginia, my husband and I decided that our family should take full advantage of living in an area with such rich historical surroundings. It seemed only appropriate that our first President’s Day here should be spent visiting Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington. WOW! Now if you’ve grown up in Northern VA that may seem like a nice gesture. But if you were raised on the other side of the country, visiting Mt. Vernon ON President’s Day is a huge deal! Plus, admission was free on this special day of the year! COME ON! How can you pass that up? You simply can’t!

So there we were, walking through the parking lot, when my husband commented on his favorite justification for this day out…FREE ADMISSION! His comment went something like, “Any other day it would cost an arm and a leg to get through the gate.” To which our 4 year old son responded, “Yea! And the leg’s a lot more because it’s bigger!” I couldn’t help but laugh out loud! Forevermore, President’s Day will bring about that memory for me.

So yesterday, as I recalled those words with a smile, a thought came to my mind. I sure am glad that’s not how God’s economy works! 1 Corinthians 12 tells us that the body of Christ, just like the human body, is made up of many parts, but it is ONE body. To each one of us, God has given a different gift and purpose. Some gifts and purposes, through our human eyes, may appear to be bigger or more important than others and therefore worth much more. But with God, every part is important and of GREAT value. Each one of us is NEEDED and VALUED in the body of Christ.

So what is your gift or purpose? God created you specifically for it! You may not think much of it, but God does, and so should you. After all, the leg can go, go, go but can’t do much once it gets there without the arm. And the arm may have a lot of reaching out to do, but without the leg to get it somewhere, it wouldn’t reach very far.