‘Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers
us as Christian workers; nor is it sin. The
trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is,
success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in
which we now live. Never seek after anything other than the approval of God,
and always be willing to go “outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Hebrews
13:13). In Luke 10:20 , Jesus told the disciples not to rejoice in
successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us
do rejoice. We have a commercialized view— we count how many souls have
been saved and sanctified, we thank God, and then we think everything is all
right. Yet our work only begins where God’s grace has laid the foundation. Our
work is not to save souls, but to disciple them. Salvation and sanctification
are the work of God’s sovereign grace, and our work as His disciples is to
disciple others’ lives until they are totally yielded to God.’ CHAMBERS
It is one thing to marvel at what God is doing,
and another to take vicarious credit for what He has done. As we see hundreds of people turn to faith in
Jesus, it is a temptation to say “Praise God. To Him be the glory” and another
to feel that your service is somehow validated by what He has done. In fact, we are nothing more than stage
hands. The star of the show is Jesus
Christ. But we do have a part to play ..
tasks that we have been given. And we
preform those not to get credit but to please the One we serve. I am watching four Haitian fishermen in a
boat … they did not make the boat, the fish or the ocean that the boat is floating
on and the fish are swimming in. All
glory goes to God. Their ability to fish
.. that comes from God too. The air they
breath, the bodies they have … all of it comes from the Creator God. Be careful what you are tempted to take
credit for. It is not the size of your
church .. your Sunday school class … the number of converts … but your
obedience that is important to God.
1
Chronicles 21:1-8 “Satan
rose up against Israel and incited
David to take a census of Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders
of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report
back to me so that I may know how many there are.” But Joab replied, “May the
Lord multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not
all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring
guilt on Israel?” The king’s word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and
went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem. Joab reported the
number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel there were one million one
hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and
seventy thousand in Judah. But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the
numbering, because the king’s command was repulsive to him. This command was also evil in the sight of
God; so he punished Israel. Then
David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you,
take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
No comments:
Post a Comment