Thy Good and Faithful Servant

Being in the ministry is a awesome privilege. It's an honor to not only be called, but also chosen to carry out the work of our Lord here on Earth. But with that privilege comes responsibility.

Revelation 1:5 describes Jesus in his earthly ministry as being a faithful witness. The apostle Paul wrote that Jesus was "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." This means Jesus was considered faithful in everything the Father entrusted to His care. Therefore as he hung on the cross, he could testify that "It is finished."

Just like Adam was created in the image and likeness of God, we as believers should be transformed into the image and likeness of Christ. We should not only strive to do the things Christ did, we should actually put on Christ. Paul said, "It is not I that liveth, but Christ who liveth in me." This is why the fragrance of Christ was emitted everywhere he went. He never claimed to arrive at perfection but he did claim to fight the good fight, finish the course and keep the faith. In other words, the apostle Paul was faithful.

Faithfulness is one of the most important characteristics of a minister. When God commissioned Ezekiel to prophesy to the children of Israel, He told them regardless of whether or not they heed the word, they would know that a prophet had been among them. Similiarly, in the parable of the sower, Jesus stated that one day a sower went out to sow. It wasn't the sower's responsibility to produce a harvest. Paul said that one man sows and another waters but it is God who gives the increase. The only thing we have control over is whether or not the good seed is sown.

Consider also the parable of the talents in Matt. 25. The master of the house took a long vacation and entrusted his possessions to three of his servants, each according to his own ability. The first two went out and used their master's money to earn a return. The third one burried his talent in the earth. When their master returned, the first two were commended for being good and faithful servants. The master wasn't impressed by how much they earned, he was impressed by how faithful they had been. However, he rebuked the third servant for being lazy and slothful and making no attempt to be faithful with what the master had given him.

As servants of God, God has entrusted each of us with a function and a service. Along with the calling, God has given us the grace to accomplish the task at hand. We must never be like the slothful servant who permitted fear to hinder him from completing his mission. The bible says that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind. The bible goes on to say that God always causes us to triumph in Christ.

This victory doesn't mean that everyone will be saved by our faithful ministry. It doesn't mean that we will constantly see fruit and there will always be a bountiful harvest. Paul said that we are the fragrance of life unto life as well as death unto death. That means that some will receive our message and labor wholeheartedly while others will not. There's no need to get discouraged when we labor for the Lord and don't see any return. It's possible for our ministry to impact people without us even knowing.

Furthermore, God doesn't judge us based on how much fruit is produced by our ministry. He judges us on how faithfully we perform the work He gives us to do. So don't focus on the results, focus on being faithful to the call. Let the Holy Spirit worry about dealing with people's hearts. Regardless of who many people are blessed by your work, make it a point to one day hear our master say, "Well done thy good and faithful servant."

Alone with God

In the gospels we often read how Jesus left His disciples and went to a solitary place to pray. He was constantly setting apart time to spend with His Heavenly Father. It was during these times of fellowship that He gained wisdom and direction for His ministry. We as children of God must also make it a point to spend time with Him. We should never allow the normal activities of life to negatively affect our prayer lives. As a matter of fact, the everyday struggles of life should encourage us to seek God even more.

Fellowship with God should be a part of life for the believer. Jesus died on the cross so that we could have access to the Father. We do ourselves a great injustice when we neglect so great a privilege. God never gets tired of hearing our prayers. He never grows weary of us casting our cares upon Him. He enjoys it.

God always intended to have a relationship with His creation. Every since God first created Adam, He wanted to have fellowship with him. After the children of Israel left Egypt, He instructed Moses to gather an assembly of the people. Later He gave Moses plans to construct the tabernacle so His people could have a relationship with Him.

Then whenever Jesus came to Earth, the bible says the Word became flesh and dwelt (or tabernacled) among us. This was yet another example of how God wanted to have fellowship with His people.

God took the time to save us. He took the time to heal us. God took the time to deliver us. Certainly we can find the time to thank Him. Surely we can take a few minutes out of our busy lives to spend with the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Have you taken time out for Him today? Have you been to your prayer closet yet today? If not, why don't you stop what you're doing and spend some quality time alone with God.