To Do God's Work

Jesus has called you and me to a life filled with his blessings and everlasting joy. We can be completely certain that our sins taken care of, and on top of that, our
lives are completely secure in Christ:  "For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). What wonderful security! Now that we are that completely taken care of, do we focus on our own comfort? Or something else?

1 Peter 2:9-10, in The Message translation, says "But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted." Did you catch that? We have the calling and the privilege, included with our calling as brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, to be "God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him." 

What kind of work? The same kind Jesus did on earth: visiting the sick and the hungry, healing and blessing and simply accepting those who came to him. 

What do we tell others? About "the night-and-day difference" God has made in our lives. Now, it may be 40 years or more since you first came to know who God is, so you may not remember the immediate differences the Lord made in you back then. But what about the last 40 years of growth? You have a story, and that story is all about the grace of God, faithfully working in your life! I bet if you took even an hour to list those blessings, you'd have a lot to tell! 

And this isn't some future calling, or something we take a college class for. It's already our position with Christ, through his goodness. It's already our privilege to act and speak on behalf of our Savior and King and Friend and Father. We can do it in every interaction with another of God's kids. Peter tells us not only that we can, but that we are specifically chosen for this task. So let me suggest three points: 

1. Get busy serving people. Generosity inevitably leads to the opportunity to share the really important things in life -- the love of God -- with someone. 

2. Pray for the people you're serving: let God's heart of compassion move you to love like Jesus loved. 

3. Get your story ready. You're going to need it!