{source}<iframe style=”float: left; border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #C0C0C0; padding: 2px; margin: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -khtml-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px;” width=”400″ height=”225″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/FNHCTV0ady0?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>{/source}Hunter Gandee is a 14-year-old from Michigan who carried his seven-year-old brother, Braden, on his back for a 40-mile journey. Hunter enjoys wrestling for his school’s team and he loves his brother, who is stricken with Cerebral Palsy. Hunter didn’t make the walk to gain attention for himself, he made the walk to draw attention to the disease that is harming the brother he loves.
A Fox Sports reporter asked Hunter if he ever thought about quitting. The article reported that Hunter said, “Honestly, yes, there was a point that we did consider stopping. Braden’s legs — the chafing was getting pretty bad. It was at about the 30-mile point.” The article goes on to say, “A phone call changed all that. Hunter reached out to a friend, who said a prayer for the brothers. That, combined with some rest and a change in how Braden was positioned on his brother’s back, helped the boys make it the final 10 miles.”
I especially loved one of the tweets about Hunter. A person wrote, “Hunter Gandee used his back to give back. How are you using your gifts to help others?”
I thought that was a good question for all of us to consider today. How are we using the gifts God gave us to help others? A 14-year-old brought a lot of attention to the disease his brother lives with, by making a huge effort to carry him 40 miles. Braden weighs 50 pounds and that is a heavy load for anyone, let alone a junior-high wrestler. I loved the fact that even though his purpose was to give attention to a disease, Hunter made sure the news media knew he gave glory to God for his journey as well. He said that a friend’s prayer made all the difference.
What is your gift, and how are you using it for God’s glory? God will hold us accountable when we stand before him one day. We don’t have to do everything, just everything that God has equipped and called us to do. What has God gifted you to do that will cause other people to know him and find salvation in his Son? That is your spiritual gift, and that is your spiritual service.
The fourth chapter of Genesis tells the story of the birth of Adam and Eve’s first son, Cain and then later his brother, Abel. Cain, in a rage born of guilt and jealousy, kills his younger brother Abel. When God asked Cain, “Where is your brother?” Cain responded saying, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” God never answered Cain’s question, he simply and swiftly passed judgment.
Why didn’t God answer, “Yes, you are your brother’s keeper?” Maybe God doesn’t waste time telling us what we already know. Of course Cain was Abel’s keeper. He was older, he was supposed to be wiser and Abel was his brother, his family. Why didn’t Cain act like his brother’s keeper? I think it was because he was self-centered with his time, his talents and his possessions. He didn’t want God to have what he wanted to keep for himself.
Our point to ponder: What has God told us to be doing for our brothers? He doesn’t have to repeat again, what we already know is true. Scripture says:
Luke 10:33-36 – “But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
Ephesians 6:7 – “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men.”
James 2:15-16 – “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?”
James 1:27 – “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Maybe you think you are too old to get much done these days. Hunter said that he was able to finish the race because he had called a friend who prayed. There is always work to be done in God’s Kingdom and God is always giving us chances to be blessed by serving him. Consider that tweet. “Hunter Gandee used his back to give back. How are you using your gifts to help others?”
Let’s not just be readers of those words – let’s be “doers” of those words. He may not repeat, what we already know is his truth.”
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