It is inevitable. I seem to always get one of those shopping carts that have a defective wheel. It makes the whole time of pushing it through the store a little bit more difficult. It also has a tendency to veer off to one direction. Then there are those carts that go thump, thump all through the store. Have you been stuck with one of those wounded shopping carts lately? I never have asked but I wonder if they have a special guy whose job it is to fix up the wounded carts? Perhaps they even have a shop that is dedicated to repairing to useful service those carts that need some attention.
As I was thinking about this the Lord brought to mind one of the duties of His church. We are called to help those fellow believers who also are wounded. In this special shop called the church we are to “love one another fervently” (1Peter 1:22). We are instructed to be involved in restoring those who have been overtaken in a fault, but we must consider ourselves lest we also be tempted (Gal. 6:1). We are to bear one another’s burdens, encourage those who struggle, and to be there to lift up those who have fallen. There are those who get so frustrated with the wounded cart believers that they advocate to just put them aside and forget about them. But our Lord Jesus taught us what God thinks about those wounded carts. He told us the story of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. In each of these situations a special effort was made to restore what was lost to a place of usefulness.
How are we doing in our own shopping cart repair shop? Are we abandoning those who do not perform up to acceptable standards or are we doing everything we can to get them up and running again? We must remember that we do have a special guy in our shop that is an expert at fixing the broken, and the wounded, His name is Jesus. Bring the wounded carts to Him.
As I was thinking about this the Lord brought to mind one of the duties of His church. We are called to help those fellow believers who also are wounded. In this special shop called the church we are to “love one another fervently” (1Peter 1:22). We are instructed to be involved in restoring those who have been overtaken in a fault, but we must consider ourselves lest we also be tempted (Gal. 6:1). We are to bear one another’s burdens, encourage those who struggle, and to be there to lift up those who have fallen. There are those who get so frustrated with the wounded cart believers that they advocate to just put them aside and forget about them. But our Lord Jesus taught us what God thinks about those wounded carts. He told us the story of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. In each of these situations a special effort was made to restore what was lost to a place of usefulness.
How are we doing in our own shopping cart repair shop? Are we abandoning those who do not perform up to acceptable standards or are we doing everything we can to get them up and running again? We must remember that we do have a special guy in our shop that is an expert at fixing the broken, and the wounded, His name is Jesus. Bring the wounded carts to Him.