Preach or Plow?

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Today's reading titled Preach, or Plow, was written by Dave Brannon. According to the family legend, two brothers, one named Billy and the other Melvin, were standing on the family's dairy farm one day when they saw an airplane doing some sky writing.

The boys watched as the plane sketched out the letters G. P overhead. Both brothers decided that what they saw had meaning for them. One thought it meant go preach.

The other read it as go plow. Later, one of the boys, Billy Graham, dedicated himself to preaching the gospel, becoming an icon of evangelism. His brother Melvin went on to faithfully run the family dairy farm for many years. To plow, as it seems to be the case, they both honored God through their vocations. While Billy had a long preaching career, his success doesn't mean that his brother's obedience to his calling to plow was any less important. While God does assign some to be in what we call full-time ministry, that doesn't mean those in other jobs and roles aren't doing something just as important. That means honoring Jesus by faithfully using the gifts he's given us. When we do, whether one Church or one Spirit.

Just as you were called to one Hope when you were called, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all, and through all, and in all. But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says, When He ascended on high, He took many captives and gave gifts to His people. What does He ascended mean except that He also descended to the lower earthly regions? He who descended to the unknown year.

ascended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe. So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ.

From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work. Let's pray. Lord, help us today to be used right where You put us. Help us to see that our words, our actions and our work ethic can profoundly affect the people we work with. May Your love shine through us today, Lord, and may others come to know You as a result of our example. Thank You, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.