The Joy Of Service

     Have you ever wondered how you could hold onto the wonderful feelings that we all feel around the Christmas season? This and many other things are thoughts that I have been pondering as we enter the post-Christmas time. First off we need to identify the source of all these wonderful feelings that we feel around this time of year. I feel like it is because people are going out of their way to help one another. They are willing to go the extra mile to help someone that may be in need. As a result, the recipient of the service feels loved and has joy. The giver feels the spirit that comes from giving needed service as well as being able to see the joy in the eyes of the recipient. In Matthew 25:40 it states, "Inasmuch as ye have ^adone it unto one of the ^bleast of these my ^cbrethren, ye have done it unto me". Now be pondering both sides of this service given, from the giver perspective to the recipients perspective.
   

    “An older boy and his young companion were walking along a road which led through a field. They saw an old coat and a badly worn pair of men’s shoes by the roadside, and in the distance they saw the owner working in the field.

    “The younger boy suggested that they hide the shoes, conceal themselves, and watch the perplexity on the owner’s face when he returned.

    “The older boy … thought that would not be so good. He said the owner must be a very poor man. So, after talking the matter over, at his suggestion, they concluded to try another experiment. Instead of hiding the shoes, they would put a silver dollar in each one and … see what the owner did when he discovered the money. So they did that.

    “Pretty soon the man returned from the field, put on his coat, slipped one foot into a shoe, felt something hard, took it out and found a silver dollar. Wonder and surprise [shone] upon his face. He looked at the dollar again and again, turned around and could see nobody, then proceeded to put on the other shoe; when to his great surprise he found another dollar. His feelings overcame him. … He knelt down and offered aloud a prayer of thanksgiving, in which he spoke of his wife being sick and helpless and his children without bread. … He fervently thanked the Lord for this bounty from unknown hands and evoked the blessing of heaven upon those who gave him this needed help.

    “The boys remained [hidden] until he had gone.” They had been touched by his prayer and felt something warm within their hearts. As they left to walk down the road, one said to the other, “Don’t you have a good feeling?” (Adapted from Bryant S. Hinckley, Not by Bread Alone, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1955, p. 95.)

    Did you notice the joy that both parties felt? This story did not take place during Christmas. These boys went out of their way to help this poor man. We can have these wonderful feelings all year long. Just as these boys felt the joy of service, we can feel the joy of service all year long.