THANKFUL THURSDAY ...shoe shiner

Giving of yourself goes so much more deeper than just dropping a dollar or two in the offering plate or going to a mission to feed the hungry. Many of the greatest feats of servant hood go unnoticed.

A story about D.L.Moody, a powerful leader in Christianity, shows how giving of yourself secretly can be a powerful thing:

A large group of European pastors came to one of D. L. Moody’s Northfield Bible Conferences in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. Following the European custom of the time, each guest put his shoes outside his room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight. But of course this was America and there were no hall servants.

Walking the dormitory halls that night, Moody saw the shoes and determined not to embarrass his brothers. He mentioned the need to some ministerial students who were there, but met with only silence or pious excuses. Moody returned to the dorm, gathered up the shoes, and, alone in his room, the world’s only famous evangelist began to clean and polish the shoes. Only the unexpected arrival of a friend in the midst of the work revealed the secret.

When the foreign visitors opened their doors the next morning, their shoes were shined. They never knew by whom. Moody told no one, but his friend told a few people, and during the rest of the conference, different men volunteered to shine the shoes in secret.

How humbling is that?  Many of us want to be great ministers for the Lord. We want our names and our works to be remembered. But how many of us are willing to be shoe shiners? Not only would Jesus have shined those shoes in secret, but He would have returned to wash their feet also!

Matthew 6:4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Have you been asking the Lord to use you? Shine someone’s dingy shoes, give a gift to someone in need, love on someone hard to love — but don’t tell the world — do it in secret! You can be sure that the Lord sees these things and you will be rewarded!

Today on this THANKFUL THURSDAY, I am honored and blessed that God has put some "shoe shiners" in my life. People who have given of their finances, their time and their love to me and my family, often times anonymously. I want to be like that, like Jesus, giving sacrifices with no strings attached!

Join your grateful heart with ours by linking up over at LYNN'S as we celebrate TT this week!