Work We Can All Do

The Bible is about people. As God unfolds His great plan of redemption for man, He weaves in the stories of different men and women used to accomplish that very purpose. And while we may not be told everything we would like to know about them, we have enough information that we can not only learn from their lives, we can relate to them. Just think about how many chapters are devoted to the telling about Joseph, David, Hannah, and Peter. We know them. We see ourselves in them. We name our children after them. They are our heroes.

But the same book boasts of a supporting cast. They are the characters whose names do not appear in a great chapter on faith. They are the people whose stories are not as familiar, even among the children of God. They are the ones who quietly enter the stage, play their part, and then just as quietly exit back into obscurity. But they are people known to God and used by God, just as He used Abraham, Moses, and Mary. In His kingdom, everyone can be a hero.

There is work that we all can do. Some people seem to suffer from the misconception that since they can’t do very much they might as well not do anything at all. They think to themselves, “I’ll never teach as he can” or “I’m not as talented as she is.” Yet God has never said He would hold us accountable for someone else’s abilities and gifts. He expects us to work with what we’ve been given, to do what we can do, not what he can do.

The work is for all of us, every laborer in the vineyard. God still uses people to bring about His plans and purposes. He has a place for you. I offer these three questions to help us determine if we are doing all that we can do.

How Much Do You Give?: — That is, how much do you give of yourself? Everyone has something to put in. There’s no gift too small, no act of service that goes unnoticed. What did Jesus recognize about the woman who broke the costly bottle of perfume and anointed His head? “She has done what she could” (Mk. 14:8). And because of that, the Lord said, “wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will be spoken of in memory of her.” When you give your all, you’ll be amazed at what you get out of it.

Do You Have Room For The Kingdom?: — We sing all the time that there is room in the kingdom for you, but do you have room for the kingdom in your life? We bend over backwards to make accommodations for everything else in our busy schedules, and the Lord usually ends up with the leftovers or is left out altogether. That’s not right. Most Christians would tell you that their relationship to God is the most important thing in their life. But what would their calendar tell you? What would their checkbook tell you? What would their lives tell you? There is work that we all can do. Let’s make certain to make room for it.

Is Your Family First?: — God is our Father. We are His children. That makes us brethren. That makes us family. But we are not family in name alone. There is a body of work that accompanies this body of beleivers, a responsibility to be born by all. And we need every part doing its part. Jesus teaches in Matt. 25:31-46 that when we serve our brethren, we serve our Brother Himself. And even the smallest deeds of kindness, things like feeding the hungry and visiting the sick, are of first importance to our Father.

Let’s not wait too late to labor. There is work that we all can do right now. And when we spend ourselves in His service we can rest assured that our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

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