Monday Morning Devotion-October 1, 2018

`LEGO-ing For the Lord

 Six stone water pots were standing there…Jesus said to the servants "Fill the jars to the brim. Dip some out and take it to the master of ceremonies"…the master of ceremonies called the bridegroom over and said: "Usually a host serves the best wine first…You have kept the best until now."   John 2: 6-10

            ***I want to dedicate this devotion to my friend Justin who recently lost his Dad.  This devotion will post on October 1st which would have been my Father's 106th birthday. Justin has had a variety of misfortunes come his way recently and I'm posting this because one of his sermons back in 2015 inspired me to write it. ***

       Do you know how many different combinations can be made from just six LEGOS?

            What did you guess?   50?  Wrong!

            100?  Wrong!

            1,000?  Wrong!

            Are you sitting down?  Here's the number!

            Just six of those little LEGO bricks can make 915,103,765 unique combinations?

            This is not a typo.  Yes, we are talking about over 900-million combinations.  Each one being different.

            Now you know I'm not smart enough to come up with that answer on my own.  Once again, I owe a debt of gratitude to the guy who is rapidly becoming my favorite Christian author, Mark Batterson.  I read it in his latest book "The Grave Robber."  He continues to inspire and motivate me as well as challenging my thinking and giving me confidence, especially in my own writing abilities and publishing opportunities.

            I want to also pass along thanks to my friend and Minister of Discipleship at Good Samaritan UMC, Justin Barfield.  He is a master at creatively using props in a clever manner to enhance his sermons. One of his best efforts was passing out LEGOs to make sermon points recently.

            At our church we realize that each of us is charged with building a life for Christ and Justin made that point very well.

            Legos are a line of plastic construction toys that can be assembled and connected in lots of different ways.  The idea, which evolved into the Lego Company, began in 1932 and was the brainchild of a Danish carpenter---Ole Kirk Kristiansen who had a strong desire to please children.  He started by creating a small group of wooden toys.  He possessed the boldness to experiment with new ideas, so when he branched out into plastic toys that interlocked and connected, the whole LEGO idea took off.

            According to Wikipedia in 2015 Lego replaced Ferrari as the "World's mot powerful brand."  Through 2013 around 560-billion Lego parts had been produced.  Now there is an entire Lego subculture that supports "movies, games, competitions, and six themed amusement parks."

            It all started with an idea and exploded.  That's why I felt inspired, upon reading this information to email Justin and encourage him to keep "LEGO-ing for the Lord."  Sometimes we don't realize what an impact one idea, or simple statement or action can have.

            Justin's LEGO prop idea was the catalyst for this devotion.  And now you are reading about it and potentially joining people in as many as 175 different countries who have read devotions in the past on my website:  www.writeman.com.  It is also being posted on the growing Good Samaritan website: www.GoodSamaritanTallahassee.org. 

            Now, if you find it hard to believe all of the different combinations that can be made from just six LEGOS let me quote Batterson again. "In much the same way, we grossly underestimate the God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine."

            God is still in the miracle making business and it only takes a small glimmer of faith to accomplish big things in His name.  I like what Batterson said about the miracles of Jesus.

They actually got their start with just four words. These words were said by a Mom, no less.

            At the wedding in Cana Mary said to her son Jesus:  "They have no wine."  And that

is how the whole miracle-making business began.

            Think about it.  Is there anyone out there who has never been a little bit frustrated by a Mother's request?  Moms have a way of putting us on the spot at times.  And that's because they believe in us.  They want to bring out our best while we may view their request or advice as exasperating or just one more thing that we have to do.

            Of course, that was probably the first thought Jesus had when his mother came to him and said those four words.  It was like "Hey what has that got to do with me Mom?" 

            It had a lot to do with Him.  It jump-started His whole ministry of miracles.  It was His first and one of his most dramatic miracles.  It is interesting that the first one was not a miracle of healing or casting out demons.  As Batterson says: "It was not about saving a life.  It was about saving face." 

            It was not a coincidence that the wedding couple ran out of wine at the wedding that Jesus was attending with his family.  It was a divine appointment.  An opportunity for a miracle disguised as a problem.  And the one who saw it for what it was…an opportunity to start her Son's date with destiny was His mom.

            The Lego story can inspire us to do great things.  That is what Jesus does and can do through us.  He can turn the worst days of our life into the best.  If He can do such an amazing thing as turning plain old water into the finest of wines what can't He do?  If He can turn water into wine He can turn "sinners into saints."

            There were six stone water pots standing there that day.  When full, each of them would hold 20 to 30 gallons.  That's a lot of wine.  That party could not only last a long time but it was one that would be talked about for many months.  It is one that we are still reading about centuries later.

            Six stone water pots.  Six LEGOS.  915,103,765 (or more) opportunities to grow the Kingdom and have a better life.

            That's the reason I emailed Justin, back in 2015, and encouraged him to keep "LEGO-ing for the Lord."

            I offer you the same invitation because in Him all things, even the impossible, become possible.

Monday Prayer: Lord the wonder of your creation continues to amaze us. Your lessons abound.  We can be inspired by something as small as a Lego brick because we know the simplicity of constructing a Lego creation by us is how simple it is for you to create a great life for us.  Amen!

***author's note:  Let Go of the things that are holding you back and "LEGO for the Lord."