Luke 17:10b We are unprofitable servants, we've just done our duty.

“German pastor Martin Rinkhart served in the walled town of Eilenburg during the horrors of the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648. Eilenburg became an overcrowded refuge for the surrounding area. The fugitives suffered from epidemic and famine. At the beginning of 1637, the year of the Great Pestilence, there were four ministers in Eilenburg. But one abandoned his post for healthier areas and could not be persuaded to return. Pastor Rinkhart officiated at the funerals of the other two pastors. As the only pastor left, he often conducted services for as many as 40 to 50 persons a day – some 4,480 in all. In May of that year, his own wife died. By the end of the year, the refugees had to be buried in trenches without services.

Yet living in a world dominated by death, Pastor Rinkhart wrote the following prayer for his children to offer to the Lord:

Now thank we all our God

With hearts and hands and voices;

Who wondrous things hath done,

In whom this world rejoices.

Who, from our mother’s arms,

Hath led us on our way,

With countless gifts of love,

And still is ours today.

Pastor Rinkhart understood that God did not owe him anything. Furthermore, he owed God everything. He was simply a dutiful servant who joyfully did his duty and gave thanks to God for his abundant mercies to him, even in the midst of a terrible epidemic and war.

Similarly, God does not owe us anything. We owe God everything. Let us remember that we are God’s servants who joyfully do our duty and give thanks to him for his abundant mercies to us. Amen.” (From Sermoncentral.com)

…and we all say..???   Amen!

-Dennis

 

To manage your subscription to the Daily Devotionals click here.