Service With a Smile (part 3)

1 Corinthians 12:14-18 syas, "For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, "Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired." (NASB)


Dizzy Dean was one of the greatest--and most colorful--baseball pitchers of all time. He once won 30 games in a season. Dizzy liked to brag about his pitching and make public predictions. In 1934, Dizzy predicted, he and his brother, who was nicknamed “Daffy”, would win 45 games. On September 21, 1934, Dizzy pitched no-hitter for eight innings against the Brooklyn Dodgers, finishing with a three-hit shutout in the first game of a doubleheader, his 27th win of the season. His brother then threw a no-hitter in the 2nd game of the doubleheader, to win his 18th, matching the 45 that Dizzy had predicted. After the game, Dizzy was heard to say to his brother, "if I'd a-known you was gonna throw a no-hitter, I'd a-thrown one too!"

One day Dizzy Dean swaggered into the opposing team’s locker room and told each hitter exactly how he would pitch to him, and then went out and pitched a shutout.

But one day in 1937, Dizzy hurt his big toe--a minor injury, nothing important. After all, it was only a toe, you know? But it was important. He began favoring that toe, which affected his pitching motion, which affected his arm. And by the time he started to consider that toe to be important, and took his injury seriously, his pitching arm was so severely affected that his career was over. Because, you see, the pitching arm cannot say to the big toe, “You’re not important; I don’t need you.”

You are important to the body of Christ. God has designed you for a unique and importand place within the body. Find your passion, find your spiritual gifts, and find your place of service. You are IMPORTANT!