For the body is not one member, but many. – 1 Corinthians 12:14
We really don’t think about our thumbs until something happens to them, and then they are on our minds continually! I recently injured my thumb, and quickly realized just how important it is—especially if it really hurts when I try to use it. Our thumbs help our fingers to work, and they are much more efficient when they all work together.
Try lifting a heavy carton of milk, or turning the key in the car ignition, or maybe buttoning a shirt, without the use of your thumbs. It seems that our thumbs are needed for almost every little task we do in a day. We couldn’t even hold a pen or pencil properly without our thumbs!
The injury reminded me of the focus verse, and that every member is important in the Body of Christ. That passage goes on to say in verse 21, “And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.” Certainly, no one would say to his thumbs, “I don’t need you!”
In the physical body, the individual parts depend on each other to help the body as a whole function. It is the same in the Church—the Body of Christ. We need to hold each other up in prayer and encouragement, and to help each other along the Christian path. In our church family, the maintenance staff, the musicians, the ministers, and the congregation all work together to make the church a soul-saving station. As important as it is to have everything functioning together efficiently in our physical bodies, it is even more important for the members of the Church to operate well together, complimenting each other’s roles in the service of the Lord. That is what it will take to effectively portray God’s love to a lost world.
We all need to work together to spread the Gospel story. God will bless us for it!