Skip to main content

24/7/365




Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil (I Thessalonians 5:16-22) 

Minister:
A member of the clergy, especially in Protestant churches
(in certain countries) a head of a government department
(archaic) a person or thing use to achieve or convey something

          Who is your minister? Who are your ministers? How many of them do you have? Are they all professionals? When you hear the word, do you think in terms of members of the clergy or heads of government departments, or do you think in the archaic sense: a person who serves you and helps you to achieve or convey something? Or, are the perhaps the buddy who makes you laugh and feel good about yourself once a week?
          What does your minister have to do with today’s passage?  These are just a brief list of things we’re supposed to be doing:
Rejoicing always (24/7/365)
Praying without ceasing (24/7/365)
Giving thanks in everything (24/7/365)
Not quenching the Spirit (24/7/365)
Not despising prophetic utterances, but examining everything carefully and holding on to what is good (24/7/365)
Abstaining from every form of evil (24/7/365)
          These are all things that we tend to expect from our ministers. They’re supposed to spend all their time doing these things plus studying Scripture, preparing sermons, counseling just about everyone, visiting patients in hospitals and nursing homes, evangelizing every home in a hundred-mile radius, leading the church….  That’s the hygienic system that lets us separate from the action: clean, neat, distant, convenient. But it’s not what Scripture tells us to do. We’re supposed to be doing those things ourselves, being helped to do those things by others, and helping others do those things. We are ministers to everyone around us. They are ministers to us. I’m not suggesting that we get rid of paid ministers, just that we don’t delegate our responsibilities to them.
         Two winters ago, God suggested to me that it wasn’t really right to just pray for someone to be blessed when I had the means of blessing them at my fingertips. Yesterday, as I made myself a little more at home at the Y, I discovered a notebook of prayer requests. I thought about adding “wisdom, direction and attitude” to the list, but didn’t. Instead, I took the four that were listed yesterday to the throne of grace – even the one I really couldn’t read. It only took a moment, but it could it, by grace, count toward their 24/7/365? I like to think so.
          We are all ministers to God and to one another. The ministry of prayer is not just a responsibility, it’s also an honor. Prayer is more than just giving God a to do list. It’s an act of loving service and a duty. How is your ministry today? 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more