My title for this devotion is Education vs Usefulness.

There are certain subjects I try to avoid like the plague. Math. Science. Chemistry. To name a few. Why? Because I either had a bad experience with them or I wear a dunce cap concerning them. Those three subjects especially are not in my wheel house of comfort. One thing I can say though is that I am fortunate I had the opportunity to learn and was able to learn. I’m no rocket scientist, mind you, but I’m grateful for both the opportunity and ability.

Fortunately, one of the requirements for being a follower of Christ is not education, smarts, big brain, or whatever else you may want to call it. What matters more is the willingness to be used.

When a young boy came forward at a meeting to follow Jesus, people whispered behind his back. “It’s only a gypsy boy.” Rodney Smith didn’t listen to those voices.  He heard only One-the voice of the One calling him. He was the teenage son of uneducated gypsy parents. He went out and got himself a Bible and an English dictionary and taught himself to read. Gypsy Smith became a prominent evangelist in the US and the UK in the late 1800’s.

It really doesn’t matter how educated/uneducated you are; how wealthy/poor you are; how refined/unrefined you are; how “classy”/unclassy you are; how bright/dull you are. What matters is how useful you are willing to be. In my mind, the ultimate question is this: Am I willing to be used by God in whatever situation, wherever he places me, when He asks me? God is not interested in my education-prowess. He wants to know if I’m willing to be His.

“Father, You’ve not asked me to be super-smart, super-intelligent, super anything. You have asked me to be available, to be willing to be used. So please take what I have to offer-no matter how great, no matter how little-and use me for You.”