Monday Morning Manna: Be Blessed and Be a Blessing

In the early days of my ministry, an elderly minister said to me, “Don’t ever turn down an opportunity to preach. Always be ready.” Six decades later I’ve done pretty well following his counsel and I am finally learning why he offered that advice, Every time I preach, I receive a special and unique blessing. Maybe it is the presence of someone who I’d known in earlier years or in other places. Perhaps, it is a new acquaintance who shares a greeting from a mutual friend. Recently I preached for a very small church, of mostly senior adults. I could have easily declined the invitation. Had I done so, I would have missed a comment of blessing from one who named for me, a number of her former pastors, asking if I knew them. Then she said, “This sermon blessed me today.” How many sermons had she heard? How many times had she been blessed? But, she said, “This sermon” was a blessing to her. Maybe that’s why an elderly Paul, told a young Timothy, “Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2). I suppose there is an exception to every story, and this story is no exception. There was the sweet, elderly lady in my second pastorate who said to me on her way out of the auditorium, “Brother Dan, every sermon you preach is better than the next one.” Think about it. Meanwhile, be blessed, and be a blessing to someone today.

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.