Someone else will do it

A common belief is that you don't necessarily have to do something because someone else will. Someone else will clean the table in the fast food restaurant. Someone else will write the letter to the editor of the newspaper on this subject. Someone else is going to clear the pavement trash. That's why I can also feel free and throw my coffee mug out of the window as a driver.

I have to take a good look at my own nose here, because I too am not entirely innocent when it comes to this attitude. Even when I'm not throwing my trash out the window, I often find myself being that "someone else." When my children were teenagers I decided not to travel but to be at home with them during those years. While my husband was away on business trips, I now did the work that he used to do myself.

I was often that someone else. When the opportunity arose to serve in the women's ministry of the church or to give a lecture, I looked over my shoulder to see who else would be free and I realized that I was the only one standing up. I didn't always want to, but I often filled in and sometimes I didn't really know what I was saying "yes" to.

Several people of the Bible have tried to hand off their calling and responsibilities to someone else, but it hasn't worked. Moses came up with a good excuse for not having to return to Egypt. Gideon questioned whether God really spoke to him. A strong warrior? That's not me! Jonah tried to run away, but the fish was faster than him. Each of them became whoever they hoped would take on the task. When Jesus came into this world as a baby, he wasn't just anyone, he was the only one who could do what needed to be done. This fallen world needed a "God with us." No one else could heal the sick and tame the winds. No one else could move the crowds with his word as much as he or she could feed them with just a basketful of fish. No one else could fulfill every single prophecy of the Old Testament like he did.

Jesus knew why he came to this earth and still prayed in the garden for the cup of the father to pass before him. But he added the request "if you want it" and prayed that not his will but the will of the Father be done. Jesus knew that no one would take his place on the cross for him because there was no other whose blood could save mankind from their sins.

Being a Christian often means being the one who is responsible and says, "I'll do it!" Jesus calls us to be someone who answers His call in order to fulfill the royal commandment of loving our brothers and sisters to execute.

So let's not look left and right at someone else, but do what needs to be done. May we all be like Isaiah, who answered God, "Here am I, send me!" (Isaiah 6,5).

by Tammy Tkach


pdfSomeone else will do it