Scanning the employment listings in the Sunday paper is an old habit with me! I'm not looking for another job, and yet most Sunday afternoons I read down the columns. The range of jobs is wide, the qualifications varied. I find the header lines used to capture attention most interesting. These appeared in the Express-Times yesterday.
-EARN EXTRA MONEY!
-HURRY! THIS ONE WON'T LAST!
-Welcome to your future.
-A real opportunity!
-Looking for a few good people.
This one, the header on an ad for a cruise ship company looking for cooks, waiters, and house-keepers is a little too cute - Don't miss the boat!
The postings offer financial security, or a sense of purpose, or the promise of fulfillment. Urgency is often implied as was the case with that last one I noted.
The Lord has posted a standing job offer, too! He is seeking men and women who will 'make a Kingdom difference' in the world! It is true! He invited you and me to join His firm named, The Church, where we can work alongside of millions of others, with the aim of changing the world.
"Ah, Pastor, you're feeling a bit grandiose today, aren't you?" No, not really. Being a world-changer does not mean that we will all become Presidents or that we will all gain national recognition. It does not require that we have access to $millions or a stage from which we speak to thousands. It means we will be faithful to serve right there in the the place where we find ourselves today, using the spiritual gifts that God provides to us today, to touch the lives of the people that we talk to and work with today. God's call to service is not just for those who would become pastors or church workers, either. It's a call to be His representative in your corner of the world.
He may use you to speak a word of wisdom to a confused person.
He may use you to extend comforting mercy to a broken heart.
He may use you to speak a prophetic word to someone who needs to be nudged back to the right road.
He may use you to be a servant who provides critical help to someone burdened down by life.
He may use you to reflect His majesty by creatively helping your work group to achieve greater things.
He may use you to build bridges of communication between people who are suspicious.
Are you starting to grasp the concept? There are opportunities to serve God everywhere, including right where you are. It does not require a pulpit or a title. God's only requirement is a willing heart that accepts His commission. And, whatever His purpose for us, God promises to make us competent by His Spirit's work. Peter writes, "As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness!" (2 Peter 1:3, NLT)
Here's a line to take with you, to meditate on today. In the earliest days of the Church, the disciples began to do godly work. They attracted attention in the city of Jerusalem which led to their arrest. When they came before the leaders in the council of those who were rich and powerful, they were not afraid. And here's what was said of them - "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." (Acts 4:13, NIV) The ability to be a world-changer comes from the Presence of Jesus in us. A couple of decades later, in the city of Thessalonica, another group of people observed two men who were faithful to Christ's call and they said of them- “Paul and Silas have turned the rest of the world upside down, and now they are here disturbing our city!” (Acts 17:6, NLT)
Let's go and change the world!
No comments:
Post a Comment