Prayer Journal

Thursday, December 28, 2000
363/3
Read the Bible through in OneYear

"Tell Archippus: 'See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.'" Col 4:17

Everybody has certain things they want to accomplish in the course of a day. From personal activities to professional duties to spiritual work, we each must determine those things we consider most important to do and set about doing it. Our goal should be to complete the work.

It's easy to know what's important at work and home. Our employer gives us a job description and assigns us tasks to do. At home we can set our own priorities to do those things most important to our family's safety and comfort. But, when it comes to our spiritual duty, knowing our job can be difficult, doing it, even more challenging.

God knows us, and God knows our heart. He knows His church and He knows what we need to accomplish. In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus' transferred His earthly work of evangelism and discipleship to us. Then, through the Holy Spirit, He gifted every believer with supernatural ability to do that work. (Rom 12:3-8)

Paul knew the challenge of balancing his secular and spiritual life. Paul told us his personal ministry was to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles and he supported that ministry by making tents to earn money. He encouraged the believers in Corinth to put their spiritual work before everything else just as he was doing; "Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Cor 15:58b)

But, how do we give ourselves "fully" to the work of the Lord when we balance multiple jobs, a home and family?

Many people act like the hectic demands of our daily lives render Paul's exhortation an impossible task. So, what do they do? Some rationalize it by saying, "the amount of time you spend for the Lord is not nearly as important as the quality of the time you spend." Others use the excuse, "We pay the pastor and staff to do the church work". My job is to give money so the paid ministers can do the work."

There are probably many more excuses just like these two. But I ask you, do you really think the function of the Church, the role of the pastor and the ministry of Christians has evolved over the years to adapt to changes in the culture of the day? I don't think so!

It would seem the words of Jesus, "Seek first the heavenly Father's kingdom and his righteousness" provide a fitting guideline for our balancing act of work and service. (Mt 6:33) Now, if we have a problem with Jesus' words, we may want to consider adjusting our attitude and then our priorities to match the pattern that Jesus laid out for us.

(1) Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society
(2) The images used herein were obtained from the Learning Company's ClickArt Christian Graphics Deluxe product, (c)1999 The Learning Company, Inc and its subsidiaries, 88 Roland Way, Novato, CA 94945 USA. All Rights Reserved.

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