Ebed-Melech

"My Lord king, these men have been at fault in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah, casting him into the cistern..."

Jeremiah 38:9

A big Japanese cosmetic company received a complaint from a customer who had bought their soap but found the box empty. Immediately, management isolated the problem in the assembly line and asked the engineers to solve the problem. The geeky engineers devised an X-ray machine to see inside the boxes and had two people monitor the high-resolution screens to make sure that all the boxes that went out of their factory had soap inside. But a rank-and-file employee had another solution. He brought in a big electric fan that blew away the empty boxes from the assembly line. 

I tell this story when I talk about Ebed-melech, a hardly known Bible character whom the Lord used to save the prophet Jeremiah. Ebed-melech was a eunuch, meaning he was emasculated and without power in the realm. He is a good reminder to us that we can't make excuses like we're shy, untalented, not from the right family or not rich enough when God calls us to do something. 

Remember: God used a shepherd boy to slay an experienced champion warrior. He used a prostitute to protect God's spies. He used Saul, the persecutor of Christians, as the Apostle to the Gentiles.

By: Rissa Singson-Kawpeng, Philippines (justbreatherissa@gmail.com)

REFLECTION: God calls you because He can use you - warts and all.