[Gary Petty] You've all heard the saying, "Just roll up your sleeves, and get to work." A number of years ago I was working at a shelter for victims of Hurricane Katrina. They came in and they were filthy and they were hungry and they were tired and they were lost. We worked all Saturday night. The next morning, Sunday morning, about 10 o'clock people began to come in to help out - volunteers. The problem is that many of them came directly from church services. They came in their dresses and their high heels and their suits, their ties. They couldn't help. They had to get down into the dirty work of helping people who needed people to help them to clean up, take off their filthy clothes, feed them. These people had a good attitude. They wanted to be there. They wanted to serve, but they hadn't come prepared.

Service is all about being prepared to help out whenever, to roll up your sleeves to get the work done.

I think of the time when Jesus was walking along a dusty road and a couple of men cried out His name. They couldn't get to Him. He walked over to them and He reached down and He asked the question, "What can I do for you?"

And there is the essence of service. What can I do for you?

Join us tomorrow for another BT Daily.