The honeybee has one of the most highly developed social structures in the animal kingdom.
At the heart of the hive, which may house as many as 80,000 bees, is the queen. Without her the colony has no future. But the 80,000 don’t just sit around watching their queen. Each bee has a specialized duty to fulfill. The forager bees encounter the perils of the outside world to collect food. The guard bees protect the hive entrance from intruders. The undertakers are responsible for removing dead bodies from the hive. The water collectors bring in moisture to regulate humidity. The plasterers make a kind of cement to repair the hive. The variety and specialization of the worker bees seem endless.
In a similar way, the Lord has given special gifts and tasks to all the people in His church. No one has been called merely to sit around. Everyone can do something. The work of the church will not get done unless all of us do what God has called us to do.
At the minute it may be difficult for all of us to do the things we like to do in the church. This may have been serving refreshments after the service or arranging the flowers. Our coffee mornings had to be cancelled as did all of our other activities.
Lord, we pray that you will help us in our thoughts, words, deeds, attitudes and actions to have hope for a new future and new ways of doing things. We realise that the church works best with participants, not spectators, so guide us in our witness to others and in our prayers for the whole of Your world
