What has God asked you to do?

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Scripture

Say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”
(Colossians 4:17 NASB)

 

Observation


The closing greetings are being added to this letter to the Colossians, and those greetings include an admonishment to a gentleman named Archippus. He has been given a ministry by the Lord. We don't know what that ministry was, but certainly Archippus did and there may have been some struggle when it came to embracing what God had truly asked him to do. He was being encouraged to confront the ministry which God had for him. He was to accept the calling from God and move forward and fulfill it.

 

Application

There are times when God asks us to do things and we may not want to respond. There can be numerous reasons why we don't want to respond, but the root is generally something related to self. There can be a lack of self-confidence. On the other hand there may be a self-centeredness that makes it difficult to give ourselves wholeheartedly in service to him.

What has God asked you to do? I know that throughout my life God has asked me to do some things that have made me pretty uncomfortable. They were certainly outside the realm of my personal ability and yet, I felt that I had to move forward in obedience to him. The truth is that if we move forward with him, he will provide all that is necessary for the task. We are asked to do things for him, so that he gets the glory, and now us. That's why he takes us in our weaknesses and asks us to do things that we would never have thought possible. That's why when he asks us to do things we make think -- there's no way! You're right, there's no way for us to do this, but with him there is every way to do this!

This message certainly speaks true to me today. This morning we embark on our first day of District Assembly on the East Ohio District -- our first day to be Co-DSs at an assembly. In my wildest imagination I could not have seen that God would have opened up this kind of opportunity for ministry. It pushes me into places where I have never been before and the shy little girl inside of me tries to tell me that I can't really be doing this. No, I can't be doing this -- but God can do this! Therefore, I offer myself as a servant to the Lord and may he do with me as he wishes. May the Lord help me to fulfill the ministry which he has placed before me, and may it bring glory to the one who calls us.

God calls all of us who are his followers to be be faithful to him -- in ministering before him. What has God called you to do today? May you fulfill your calling in him!

 

Prayer

Lord, thank you for the calling and for the grace to fulfill that calling. May you be glorified today and every day! Amen.

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