Beyond Common Sense

Once upon a time there was a pipe named Pip.  He was not anything fancy – just a large metal pipe.  Pip lay at the foundry with the other pieces waiting for the day he would be useful.

One day, the men from the foundry loaded all the piping onto a truck. Pip was so excited.  “I wonder where we’re going,” he said to his nameless look-alikes.

“Who cares,” one said as the truck rolled out of the yard and onto the highway.

“Don’t any of you know anything,” said one pipe with an extra fitting on the end.  He was one of the “specials.”  They acted as if they were more important, but Pip knew that each piece needed to play its part well or none of them would amount to anything.

From his perch atop the truck, Pip could see for miles around.  “Wow, this is awesome!”

“Don’t get used to it,” one of the older pipes said.  “Where we’re going, you ain’t gonna see nothing!’

“That doesn’t matter, just so I can do my job,”

The special pipe snorted.

As the truck began to slow down, Pip strained to see where they were going.  They turned off the highway and onto a smaller road which twisted and curved through the mountains.  The sights were breathtaking.  Pip even saw deer and turkey along the way.  He sighed and smiled happily but said nothing.

Soon, the truck pulled alongside a wide path that led through the woods.  As far as Pip could see the path stretched across the field, through the woods and up over the mountains.  In the middle of the path was a long trench.  “My new home,” Pip nearly shouted.

All the other pipes laughed.

Pip was the first pipe to be laid and connected into the pipeline.  His partner was a much older pipe who had seen a lot.  “Well, hello Sonny,” Pop said as the men joined the two together.  “I’m glad you finally made it.”

“Me too,” Pip said, knowing that he had found a kindred pipe!

As the days past, Pip and Pop waited and watched, anxious to get started.  It rained on them.  The leaves fell about them and the air turned cold at night.  “Will we ever do our job,” Pip asked impatiently.

Pop laughed.  “Patience, Sonny.  Our day is coming.”  And sure enough, the day came when all the connections were made, and the dirt was placed over them.

“I’m as snug as a bug in a rug,” Pip exclaimed, “but my mouth is awfully dry.”

“It won’t be for long,” Pop said sleepily.  The warm dirt was making him drowsy.

And then it happened!  Pip could sense that something was coming.  He heard it and smelled it before the gas began to flow.  The sensation was beyond his wildest dreams!  “At last,” he shouted in complete joy.  It felt so good to be used.

He never again saw the bright blue sky or the darkness of the night sky pin-pricked with a million stars.  He had said goodbye to all the woodland creatures who had wandered his way.  No more rain.  No more sunsets. Only dirt, and the comfort of knowing he was being used.  For Pip, it was all he needed.

Little did he know that some of the liquid gold that passed through him had fueled the ambulance that drove a dying child to the hospital, enabling the doctors to save her life.  He never knew that some his cargo kept babies warm and their bottoms dry, and it put new color on Grandma’s walls.  It didn’t really matter – he just wanted to be useful.

Do you know that God made you and saved you to use you for a specific purpose?  It may just be to speak a kind word to a neighbor or the awesome task of raising a godly son or daughter. Service for the Master comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes but they all require a few things:

1. Surrender of MY will and desires
2. Perhaps a “shaving off” of some personal quirks that get in the way
3. Patience
4. Sometimes misunderstanding from other pipes!
5. Time – there’s no such thing a convenient Christianity – that’s one of my favorite quotes.

You may not be appreciated or even noticed, but that kind of service is the most enjoyable!  God always sees and that’s all that matters!  And don’t forget that it’s His ministry, His power, His service, and His glory.  We’re just the pipeline!

How I praise Thee, precious Savior,
  That Thy love laid hold of me;
Thou hast saved and cleansed and filled me,
  That I might Thy channel be.

Channels only, blessed Master,
  But with all Thy wondrous grace,
Flowing through us, Thou canst use us
    Every hour in every place.

Just a channel, full of blessing,
  To the thirsty hearts around;
To tell out Thy full salvation,
  All Thy loving message sound.

Emptied that Thou shouldest fill me,
  A clean vessel in Thine hand;
With no strength but as Thou givest
  Graciously with each command.

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/268#ixzz2McrVtTbR

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net