This is National Taco Day.

Tacos are a favorite fast food. Tacos probably came to the States from Mexico, and, at first, were only available in California or the Southwest. Now we can get them anywhere. And we have all kinds of tacos, even taco salad.

The basic taco has ground beef, cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and salsa (sometimes other ingredients, too) packed in a tortilla shell. So in each bite you get an explosion of flavors. No wonder they’re popular—easy to eat and so tasty!

Can you imagine a “taco” with only salsa or only lettuce or only sour cream? Of course not. It would be something, but certainly not a taco. The mixture and blend of ingredients give it flavor and interest.

The same is true with believers in Christ. The Church a wonderful mixture of personalities, cultures, histories, ages, races, gifts, and talents. This variety flavors the Church and makes it effective.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote about this, using the body as his example (not a taco). Paul said that every person in the church, “the body of Christ,” is an important part, even though each person is unique. If everyone had the gift of preaching and no one had the gift of administration, imagine the chaos. It would be like a body with several noses and no arms or legs. A body needs a wide variety of parts, working together.

He also wrote that we shouldn’t be jealous of others’ gifts. Instead, we should determine our gifts and then use them to God’s glory.

Think about your church, your part of the Body of Christ on earth. What differences in talents, spiritual gifts, experience, and wisdom do you see? Thank God for the variety. And think about your special contribution. What can you do in your church?

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:27)

To Do

Interview four or five adults in your church, asking what they think are their spiritual gifts. Then ask a couple of adults who know you well to suggest possibilities for your spiritual gifts.

Also on this day . . .

1880—John Lee Richmond pitched baseball’s first “perfect game.” He played for the Worchester, Massachusetts “Worcesters.”

1929—Anne Frank was born.

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005). Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.