Here I am

I think you all know the system used to select the university players on behalf of the NBA. It is called the DRAFT: they select players according to an order established by the teams, in such a way that the clubs get the best players (first positions). Sometimes many surprises take place and a player that nobody wanted, or who was too low on the list turns out to be a "star".

This was the case with BILL LAIMBEER, a great NBA pivot, who managed to become a champion with the Detroit Pistons. He was chosen in the DRAFT of 1979, with the number 65! So theoretically there were 64 players better than him!

Not all those who seem better are in fact better. In all walks of life there are really important people who were not destined to do their present jobs, but who knew how to answer a calling, and today nobody can do their job better than they do. Often it does not depend on who is better prepared, but on who is determined to do it and is willing.

From the beginning of humanity, God has called men and women to enter his "team". God calls people who are willing to serve him: he does not expect them to be the most important, nor the wisest, nor the best prepared... God calls men and women who are willing... The job possibilities are immense: to take the message of the Gospel around the world and in this way offer freedom to millions of people who live condemned for ever. 

For every moment in which we doubt whether to follow the calling or not, thousands of people are lost throughout the world. Many of them, maybe, because of our reluctance. God himself tells us that the work is immense, but the labourers are few.

Whenever we hear the calling of God, we look around because we hope someone else will answer. We have changed the biblical text and now we say, "Here I am, send my brother." We have learned to look and point at others. We find perfect abilities to serve the Lord - in our families and friends... but not in ourselves. When we do this, we are disobeying the voice of God, and we are therefore sinning against him.

It is not a matter of being better, nor being more prepared. It is a matter of ANSWERING. God continues to call in the same way each day: "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" You can make up many excuses - infinite excuses - and you may even believe that they are good. But it is God himself who is asking, and when he does there is only one possible answer: "Send me.”