A large group of European pastors came to one of D. L. Moody’s Northfield Bible Conferences in Massachusetts in the late 1800s.

Following the European custom of the time, each guest put his shoes outside his room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight.

But of course this was America and there were no hall servants.

Walking the dormitory halls that night-

Moody saw the shoes and determined not to embarrass his brothers.

He mentioned the need to some ministerial students who were there, but met with only silence or pious excuses.

Moody returned to the dorm, gathered up the shoes, and, alone in his room, the famous evangelist began to clean and polish the shoes.

Only the unexpected arrival of a friend in the midst of the work revealed the secret.

When the foreign visitors opened their doors the next morning, their shoes were shined.

They never knew by whom.

Moody told no one, but his friend told a few people, and during the rest of the conference, different men volunteered to shine the shoes in secret.

I’m humbled.

How about you?

Many of us want to be great ministers for the Lord.

We want our names and our works to be remembered.

But let’s never forget the true ministry of the Lord.

Not only would have Jesus shined those shoes in secret-

He would have returned to wash their feet too!

Have you been asking the Lord to use you?

Here you have it!

Shine some one’s dingy shoes,

– give a gift to someone in need,

– love on someone hard to love…

But don’t tell the world.

Do it in secret!

You can be sure that the Lord sees these things!

And He will open up more opportunities for you to do even greater things for Him!

“You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:13-15).

(PA)