Thought for Today
2 Samuel 2:6 Now may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you! And I too will reward you because you have done this thing.
Micah 6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Luke 10:27 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
Matthew 10:42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward."
“National Nurses Week 2026 is observed from Wednesday, May 6 to Tuesday, May 12, concluding on International Nurses Day, which marks Florence Nightingale’s birthday.” (Copilot Search)
Thankfully, one of our congregants reminded me Sunday about National Nurses Week. There are several now retired nurses in our congregation and we were able to recognize nurses and their contributions to our society and to also offer a prayer of thanksgiving for their service.
This morning’s devotional in These Days reflects on John 17:1b, Jesus’ prayer to God to protect his followers from the coming events. Several sentences in that devotional immediately caught my attention. In reflecting on Jesus’ prayer, the author wrote, “What a stunning, humble request.” The author earlier in the devotional had noted of nurses how their service reflected both care and determination. Their service was described as, “Simple acts of care. Faithful presence. Small things that changed the world.”
Part of the reflection mentioned how important the nurses during our nation’s horrible Civil War found washing their hands contributed to saving the wounded. “Protection isn’t always dramatic rescue. Sometimes it’s quiet faithfulness.” Many denominations today require ministerial candidates to be trained in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). As part of my training, I volunteered with the Chaplain’s Office at Houston’s Methodist Hospital. During the orientation, one of the things most seriously stressed was the inflexible rule that prior to entering any patient’s room, one must sanitize one’s hands using the dispenser outside each room. We were also told we must sanitize our hands on leaving the room. There were no exceptions! If I visited 15 patients, that meant sanitizing my hands 30 times. The cover on the Bible I always carried now looks at least 100 years old. The leather cover is no longer a shiny, new looking black but is a dull faded black. That act of double sanitation was not dramatic, was not complex, but it was impactful and important.
There is an important faith lesson for us all in that idea of “Simple acts of care. Faithful presence. Small things that changed the world.” In our daily lives and in our faith lives, small things are important. Yes, the big things are important, the dramatic, earth-shattering things count. Revivals, stadium-filling gatherings bringing together thousands of believers and seekers are significant.
But most Christians are not revivalists. Few of us will ever give a sermon like Peter’s in Acts chapter 2. Even fewer will ever have it written of us, “2:41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.” The truth is, we are not asked to bring thousands to Christ by our preaching or by how we demonstrate our faith in our daily lives. Jesus told his followers and still tells his followers, “whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward."
It is easy to get lost in the majestic and dramatic events in life and in the Bible. Elijah won a great victory over the priests of Baal. Elijah fled after that victory to escape the wrath of the King. But it is important for us to remember how that story ends, “1 Kings 19:11 Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.”
We are more likely to find God in the simple acts of justice, kindness, in the humble acts of our own lives than in the dramatic events of life. We are all called to that faithful presence, to those simple acts of sharing God’s love.
Stay safe, find your own way of offering that cup of cold water, trust God,
Pastor Ray