The Old Glove

“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.
– Jeremiah 32:17

O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you.
    Be our arm every morning,
    our salvation in the time of trouble.
– Isaiah 33:2 (ESV)

There was a teacher who placed an old glove on his desk at the beginning of his Bible class for each semester. Periodically, he would talk to the glove and tell it do do something for him. “Turn off the lights”, he would say to the glove, or, “make me a cup of coffee”, or , “clean this desk off, it is dusty.” Of course the glove would not respond to his directions and would lay there lifeless as it was on his desk. At the end of the semester, on the last day of class, without saying a word to preface his actions, the teacher would put on the old glove and perform the tasks that he had been asking the glove to do during the semester. Then he would leave his students with the following thought. “The glove by itself is useless”, he would say, “but with my hand in the glove and my arm directing it’s movements, it is now a useful tool.” The point the teacher made was obvious: we are the glove and we are not worth anything unless God’s presence fills us and His arm directs our thoughts and actions. As God empowers us and we depend on His strength, we are able to perform the tasks that He has given us to perform.

Bob Dodson

About the author:

Bob is the creator of this site and a disciple of Ray Vander Laan. Along with his wife of 50 years, he teaches a Bible study at Christ’s Church in Roswell, NM. He is also an avid hunter and fisher.