(The following is the August 24 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read Galatians 6 and pay close attention to verses 1-10.)
If you’ve been in church for years, you’ve probably met faithful servants with decades of leadership and service behind them. They may have served various ministries and age groups in official and unofficial positions. Some volunteered in quiet, behind-the-scenes ways as they saw needs and humbly filled them.
In your church, you may notice that a minority of members do most of the work. That isn’t ideal, but it is typical. When leaders ask for volunteers, many of the same hands go up. Unfortunately, this uneven service distribution means that many members fail to do their part in serving Christ through his church. The imbalance places an undue burden on the few who volunteer. It limits the church’s effectiveness in the community and among members because those serving have limited hours to give. Those not doing their part should reevaluate their priorities and commitments since every Christian should invest time, energy, and resources into loving God and others by serving Christ’s church.
Paul’s words encourage those serving: “Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up” (v. 9). Encouraging words by leaders in the workplace go a long way to motivate us to do our best. Likewise, these Spirit-inspired words should encourage us to keep serving through the church.
How we serve our Lord will change as our abilities, resources, passions, and opportunities evolve. The fact that we serve should not change. There is much to be done for the kingdom, and God desires more laborers for the harvest, not fewer (Matt. 9:37-38).
Carry on, faithful servants. “Let us not get tired of doing good.”
Next Step:
How do you serve Christ through the church? Does that need to change through more, fewer, or different ways of service?
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