

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12
Last summer, I was watching a baseball game and I remembered the day when I was eight years old and came home crying.
My friends had picked teams for a game that was starting up on an empty lot, and I had been assigned to right field.
Generally speaking, no balls were ever hit to right field. It was a place of disgrace and distrust.
My mother provided a solution for my discouragement by getting my great-grandfather's pocket watch. An impressive bit of time-keeping, she put it in my hand and asked, "What do you see?"
"A watch, a case, some hands," I answered.
She unscrewed the back of the watch and asked me a second time, "What do you see?" I was hard-pressed to describe the jewels, wheels, springs and cogs.
Mom made her point by saying, "This watch would be junk if you took out one of those parts, even the parts which seem invisible."
Mom's words helped me then, and I hope they may be of assistance to you now.
There are times when each of us feels we're unimportant. We think if we disappeared or died, we'd hardly be missed. That idea doesn't come from God.
In the eyes of the Lord, and in all probability, in the eyes of many other people, you are important. We may not be out in front like some people are. Most of our work may be done behind the scenes, almost invisibly, but we're still important.
The Lord Jesus has -- with his life, death and resurrection -- redeemed us. The Holy Spirit has brought us into the body of Christ and given us gifts that He wishes us to use for God's glory and our neighbor's benefit.
For the Church to accomplish that which God has entrusted to us, all of us, even the unseen ones must do the job God has given each of us -- even the little cogs -- even those who play right field.
From a devotion originally written for "By the Way"
THE PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for my salvation and the gifts that have been entrusted to me. Keep discouragement from my door and grant me the ability to use those gifts to glorify the Christ. In His Name I pray. Amen.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible Readings: Zechariah 11-12 Revelation 2
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