For Ministry

James 1:²² & 2:¹⁷ “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  …Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (NIV, emphasis added)

Spiritual maturity is not an end in itself. Maturity is not a tool to bully or a chip on the shoulder. Have you heard people claim to be spiritually mature Christians? But sadly, they are not very useful to the body of Christ. Maturity is for ministry! Your maturity is useless to heaven if it is not deployed in ministry. 1 Corinthians 12:^4-5&27 “Now God gives us many kinds of special abilities… There are different kinds of service to God… All of you together are the one body of Christ, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.” (LB, emphasis added). Everyone reading this today is a separate and necessary part of the body.

People sometimes look down on themselves because they think they do not contribute much, and nobody knows them. They think their gifts are not significant. Some even say, ‘If the church is the body, then I am the tiny toenail on the little toe’. My response is, try cutting off your toenail, or hit it against something and feel the pain. Then you will discover that it is small, but it is indispensable. You may be small, but you are indispensable. Guess what? If you and I do not use our gifts, we are actually robbing (cheating) the body. It is clear from the scriptures that we all have to contribute. The question is what exactly is your contribution? Think about it.

We cannot hide behind COVID-19 anymore. People have begun to wear and hide behind masks spiritually. A physical mask is necessary to protect us, but spiritual masks are unnecessary. We have to be useful to God. Just do something. My challenge to you today is to introspect and ask yourself, what can I do with my life for the Lord in 2024? How much of what you are doing today is going to count in ten years? Think about it. How old are you now? At the turn of the decade, in 2030, how old will you be? It is easy to hide behind minutes and seconds, but God is challenging you to look at the big picture. In ten, thirty, or fifty years, how significant will what you are doing now be? Let’s stretch it a little bit, in a hundred years, how significant will it be?

I say this without any apology that perhaps the most significant thing you can do with your life is to be a member of a church and contribute to that church. And it does not have to be God’s Favourite House. The things that last for a hundred years, and for eternity are the things we do for God. You become a Christian by committing your life to Christ, but you live as a Christian by committing your life to other Christians, that is how it works.

Prayer: Father, I ask for the grace to play the long game and to approach everything in light of eternity, to walk a significant walk, in Jesus Mighty Name. Amen!