Some friends went hunting in northern Canada. One was an Engineer. One was a Psychologist. And one was a Theologian. As they were hunting, a bad winter storm came up and they found a little isolated cabin. No one answered when they knocked, and the door was unlocked, so they went in. It was nothing fancy – just two small rooms. There was nothing unusual about it, except for the coal stove. The large, potbellied stove was suspended in mid-air by wires attached to the ceiling beams.

The Psychologist said, “Fascinating! It is obvious that the lonely trapper feels so isolated from the world that he elevated the stove so that he can curl up underneath it and emotionally return to his mother’s womb in a fetal position. A brilliant means of adapting to one’s environment!”

The Engineer said, “That a load of Freudian nonsense! The man is simply displaying a knowledge of the laws of thermodynamics. He obviously discovered that elevating his stove off the floor would distribute the heat more evenly throughout the entire cabin. He put the laws of physics to practical use!”

The Theologian said, “With all due respect to both of you and your wisdom, you are wrong. Hanging his stove from the ceiling has powerful religious symbolism. You see, fire, lifted up, has for centuries been a symbol for the nearness and active presence of God. I would guess this was his way of coping with his loneliness and abandonment, letting the elevated fire be his constant reminder of God’s presence here with him.”

They each debated the merits of their theories, which in itself helped to warm them up. They also lit a fire in that elevated stove, enjoying its warmth, but never resolving their different theories. While they were debating and warming, the trapper returned to his cabin.  After the necessary introductions and greetings, they asked him, “Why did you suspend your pot-bellied stove from the ceiling?” His answer was brief and simple. “I had plenty of wire but not much stove pipe.”

In God’s service, we are asked to use only what we have been given. Some have plenty of one thing. Some have plenty of something else. God wants you to use what you have been given “plenty of” in His service. And this is done in response to knowing what God has already done for you, providing His Son to pay for your sins so that you can have forgiveness and eternal life.

A passage that I remind myself of on a regular describes an attitude that was instilled in me as a child by my father, something that has shaped the way I have lived much of my life.

Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  

 Whatever it is you are doing, do it with all your heart, remembering that you are doing it for Jesus.