This morning’s word is A Cut Above.
The anchor verses are Proverbs 4:7 and Mark 1:17.
There are places where hope seems like a distant memory. Mornington Island, a remote community off the northern coast of Australia, had become one of those places. It had recently endured the loss of several of its men, lives taken too soon, and the grief sat heavy over the whole community. The pain was deep. The wounds were fresh. The future felt uncertain. And then a barber named Jon James stepped off a small plane onto the island. He did not come with grand speeches or easy answers. He came with a simple skill, the art of cutting hair, through a program called Fade Wellbeing. And in that skill he carried something far greater. Dignity. Purpose. A reason to believe tomorrow could be different.
This is the power of practical love. It does not always look like a sermon or a miracle. Sometimes it looks like a pair of scissors, a comb, and a willingness to stand with people in their darkest moments. Jon James did not only teach young people how to cut hair. He taught them that they were seen, that they mattered, that their lives had value. And in doing so he showed something that runs through the heart of Scripture. GOD meets us where we are, and HE uses the simplest things to bring the greatest healing.
The Scriptures call wisdom the principal thing, the foundation of everything else. The beginning of wisdom is this, the proverb says. Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. This is not wisdom for its own sake. It is wisdom that leads to action, that sees a need and moves toward it, that understands the most powerful thing we can do is sometimes just to show up, listen, and offer what we have in our hands.
Jon James had that kind of wisdom. Not the kind that comes from books or degrees, but the kind that comes from a heart willing to serve. He saw a community in pain and asked himself a simple question. What can I do? And in that question he found an answer that would change lives. He brought a skill, yes, but more than that he brought hope in a form a person could hold, a reminder that even in the darkest places, light can break through.
Jesus did not call His disciples to a life of comfort. He called them to follow HIM, to leave what was familiar, and to fish for people. Come, follow me, HE said, and I will send you out to fish for people. There is something fitting in that image, on an island of people who have always known how to fish. It is the call to step into the broken places and carry the love of GOD there, to see people not as projects or problems, but as souls in need of hope.
Jon James answered that call. He did not have to go. He could have stayed in his own shop, cutting hair for people who could pay him well. He chose instead to bring his skill, his time, and his heart to a place that desperately needed all three. And in doing so he showed us what it looks like to fish for people. Not with words alone, but with actions that speak louder than any sermon.
When we step into the broken places, we do not change only one life. We change many. Jon James did not just teach a few young people to cut hair. He gave them a trade, a way to provide for themselves, pride in their work, and a reason to get up in the morning. And who knows how far that ripple will travel? Maybe one of those young people will teach others. Maybe they will use their skill to serve their own community. Maybe they will become the kind of people who see a need and meet it, who see a hurt and help to heal it.
This is the power of a single act of love. It does not stop with the people we directly touch. It keeps going, spreading like ripples on a pond. And it all starts with a simple choice. To see, to serve, and to love.
So to the one who feels like what they have to offer is not enough, remember the barber and his scissors. GOD does not ask us to have all the answers. HE asks us to be willing. To the one who feels the world’s problems are too big, every act of love, however small, is a step toward healing. To the one waiting for the perfect moment, the moment is now. And to the one wondering whether their effort will matter, remember that GOD uses the simplest things to do the greatest work.
I am not here to prove myself. I am here to make HIM visible.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, you do not have to carry it alone. Please reach out to a trusted person, or find a free helpline in your country at findahelpline.com. There is help, and there is hope.