What’s It Like Working for the Lord?

-


Scripture:

1Cor. 15:58 ¶ Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Observation:

Paul was faithfully serving the Lord, day in and day out.  He had just finished sharing with the Corinthian church about the resurrection.  He was firm in his faith in Jesus Christ and in the resurrection of the dead.  He knew that Christ had been resurrected and that we too, as God’s followers, would also be raised again from the dead.  That is why he could be steadfast and immovable!  The foundation of faith on which his life was built was firm.  Nothing would shake him from his understanding of the life-giving gospel found in Christ! 

Paul was moved with passion for those who were lost; for those who would not experience the resurrection.  Yes, God’s prevenient grace is reaching out to the entire world but there will come a day of judgement.  There will be a resurrection and Paul wanted to make sure that he was a faithful laborer in the kingdom.  He wanted to work hard for the Lord so that those who had no faith in the resurrection could find themselves steadfast and immovable.  Laboring for the Lord is never in vain.  The gift of the gospel message is life — eternal life.  This means more than anything that people can encounter here on this earth.  Paul knew that there had to be a commitment to working, laboring, for the Lord. 

This was not the time to retire!  For Paul, working for the Lord was everything.  He worked tirelessly from morning until night.  Words of Christ came from his tongue wherever he may have found himself — whether in his secular job — or preaching in front of a large crowd.  Paul’s reward was an eternal one, knowing that sometime in the resurrection he would see the fruit of his labors.

Application:

Paul’s labor for the Lord was not always easy and yet he had a passion to serve Christ every single day.  Last night I met up with a team of individuals who had been out in the northern reaches of Kenya for ministry.  They had been in a town that has been experiencing famine and the result is women who have been abused in the midst of it all.  They traveled three hours by land-rover over, through, and around pot-hole ridden roads to get to a refugee camp in the middle of no-where.  Here they saw where 150,000 displaced individuals are living; a struggling group of humanity not seeing any end to the drought and famine which has hit their home country.  And the group was praying and brain-storming over ways in which they could labor for the Lord to make a difference in this corner of the world.  They arrived back into Nairobi tired and dirty — but rejoicing in the opportunities of ministering for the Lord.

If only we would open our eyes we would see the needs around us on a daily basis.  There is an entire world that needs to know Jesus and he is looking for laborers who are willing to suffer hardships for the sake of the Gospel.  Laboring in this way is not in vain, but it is hard work.  Working for God was never meant to be easy.  Nor was it meant to be something static — an activity that we do day in and day out.  Working for God means that we are always working to excel “in the work of the Lord.”  We are to give him everything that we have — all our talents, energy and faith.  Our faith must be firm.  Just like Paul we must know that we are immovable in knowing him.  Then, we must work to excel in our service to him.  This means that we give God the best — not the left-overs.  And then, we trust God for the results.  Why? Because the work isn’t ours.  This is God’s work and the results are up to him. 

What’s it like working for the Lord?  Sometimes it’s a lot of work with long hours, dirt, flies and unrecognizable food.  But we press on for this is our calling.  To trust in him, give him our best — and leave the results to him.  It’s all worth it and it’s not in vain.  Someday we will see it all clearly and we will realize that we have made a difference by being faithful and laboring for him.

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for the blessed opportunity we have to serve you.  Amen.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a ti...
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her ...
Read more

On Grief and A Flute Player

-
Scripture: Matt. 9:23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, Matt. 9:24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Matt. 9:25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. Matt. 9:26 And the report of this spread throughout that district. Observation: This is a simple story which we have heard or read numerous times. Jesus heals the little girl and the people rejoice. But at the moment in which he arrives at the home he encounters the professional mourners. These are the flute players, the ones who have come to make a great noise about the child’s death. It is the flute player that testifies to the fact that she is truly dead. Also, flutes were generally employed when it came to the death of a child. The whole community would therefore understand that it is a child who has died in this home. The flute player is doing the job they have ...
Read more