I resent rummaging through a cluttered kitchen drawer to find a spatula or spoon. That’s why we keep our most frequently used cooking utensils in a bamboo bin next to the stove, where they are easy to reach when needed. I am less inclined to use a knife that is hiding deep within the drawer. If the whisk isn’t clean, I won’t use it either. I will always use the kitchen tools that are ready for the job and easily accessible. 

The Scripture is clear that God delights in using His people when they are readily available for His consecrated use (cf. Exodus 35:5; 1 Chron. 29:9). God wills to use those marked by willingness to do His will. He reaches for those who are “out in the open” and ready to be used by Him, not those who are “hiding out” from their spiritual obligations. Moreover, those sitting around in the sink of sin will not be used for sacred service until they are washed (cf. 2 Timothy 2:20-21). The servants God uses the most are those who have made themselves the most usable. 

Ananias was a servant in the Bible who embodied such willingness and availability. St. Luke wrote of him, “Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord”” (Acts 9:10). He was ready to serve Jesus with eager hands and a willing heart the moment he heard his name called. Even before he was told the details of his divine assignment, he was prepared to do whatever the Lord required! Without hesitation, inquiry, or complaint, Ananias dropped everything he was doing to serve the Master.

Like Ananias, all of us who know Christ ought to be “all systems go,” eager to do the Lord’s work. We should jump to our feet when serving God, not drag our feet. Instead of putting off sacred service, we ought to prioritize it above everything else. Instead of burying ourselves in the drawer of our own burdens, we should place ourselves within God’s reach. When God calls us to do something, our knee-jerk reaction should be, “Yes, Lord? What do You want me to do? Where do You want me to go?”

The Lord is asking you the same question he posed to Isaiah: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And the only right answer to that inquiry is Isaiah’s answer: “Here I am! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). Every believer’s heart should beat to the tune of Fanny Crosby’s relatable hymn, Lord, Here Am I, which opens like this: 

“Master, Thou callest, I gladly obey;

only direct me, and I’ll find Thy way.

Teach me the mission appointed for me,

what is my labor, and where it shall be.

Master, Thou callest, and this I reply,

“Ready and willing, Lord, here am I.”

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.