When I was eleven, I joined the Boy Scouts. my friends Chris and Paul joined too, and my brother Dennis came along as soon as he was old enough.
What red-blooded American boy wouldn’t want to join an organization that promised to take him on a camping trip in the woods every month for the next six or seven years? There would be hiking, fishing, fire-building, sight-seeing, wildlife of all kinds—I was excited.
One night I went to a patrol meeting at Jimmy Klein’s house. It was not the whole troop, just our patrol—the Wildcats. I’m sure I was not listening too closely. It was my first “meeting” in life and listening was a skill I had not developed. But I heard something about someone who moved away and suddenly the Wildcats needed a new quartermaster.
My hand shot up.
“I’ll do it. Here I am. Send me.”
“You? You’re just a kid.”
“Do you even know what a quartermaster is?”
“Nope.”
“Well, it’s a lot of work.”
“So? I can do it.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
I went home excited.
“I’m the new quartermaster!”
My parents were less enthusiastic. “Did they force that on you?”
“No way! I volunteered.”
“Sounds like a lot of work.”
“Yeah, that’s what they said!”
If you know my story, perhaps you can see the problem. Work and I did not get along.
A quartermaster is in charge of all the supplies: tents, igloos, chuck boxes, groceries, pots and pans of every shape and size. I had to take a ton of stuff home after every campout and store it in the garage. Often after heavy storms or an otherwise dirty weekend, I had to scrub everything with soap and water, then hang it up in the garage to dry out for a day or two. Then I had to re-pack everything once it dried. Finally, my mom and I had to buy groceries before every campout.
Serving as quartermaster was not a lot of work. It was an INCREDIBLE amount of work, not only for me, but for both my parents. But I never forgot that I had volunteered and sworn I could handle it. Lazy as I was, I never considered quitting. I had practically begged for that job—and the truth is, with my parents’ help—I became an excellent quartermaster.
And it all started when my hand shot up:
“I’ll do it. Here I am. Send me.”
Isaiah had a meeting too. He had an unscheduled meeting with God. Isaiah reports what year it was and says, “I saw the Lord, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.” When he encounters God’s holiness, Isaiah realizes that he is sinful. But the angel brings a coal, touches his lips, and removes his sin problem. Suddenly Isaiah hears God’s voice:
“Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And Isaiah can’t help it. He speaks out. Perhaps he shouts, waving his hand in the air:
“I’ll do it. Here I am. Send me” Isaiah 6:8.
Was it a lot of work? Yes. Is it easy to serve God? No. Did God keep Isaiah busy? Yes, for the next forty years! Isaiah’s book is 66 chapters. He is one of the MAJOR PROPHETS. His life made a difference and he will never be forgotten. To this day, his prophecies about the life, suffering, and death of the Messiah are some of the most amazing, most carefully studied writings in the entire Bible. (Isaiah 53 is incredible.)
So what about you? Would you volunteer? Can you tell God, “I’ll do it. Here I am. Send me”?
God, remove our sins as you did Isaiah’s—then help us to volunteer for whatever you need from us.
ΑΩ
Household Words: 