Skip to main content

“A THANKLESS JOB”

Monday, Sept. 7, 2009

1 COR 15:58 (NIV)
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.


Ever feel like the work you do in the Lord is not worth it? You pray and testify and the very people you desire to share in the Kingdom ignores your teachings, testimony and the truth. Can you just imagine how Jesus must have felt, knowing the rejection and pain he was had to face?

When I was at Lowes the other day, working on an Accutinter, I spent most of my day inside and under a computerized robot of sorts in the Paint Department. Because I was inside a machine full of colorant and paint no one noticed me around much. The customers were rude and very rarely said “Thank You” to the sales associates. One even commented that she had a “Thankless job!” “Everyone wants something but does not care about the one assisting them in getting want they want.” Brothers and Sisters, ministry is much the same way. I have not met a person yet that does not want to be saved but there are few who wants to praise God for giving us the salvation.

As preachers, teachers, and pastors we spend a lot of time trying to get folk to the point where they can thank God for the blessings he has bestowed upon us. We see people come and go! Folk join the church, folk leave the church, many to return more broken than were before. We see our own family members enthralled in sin and the ways of the world and we pray for them, just to be told… “If you come to this family event do not expect to pray…” Oh Yes! A thankless job! But it really is not! Saints, we must not seek the approval or appreciation of man. Do not get me wrong, it is appropriate to exhort one another, but as ministers we should not expect to be thanked by man. Often times what we must impart to the Church is not always popular or the word is so deep it will NOT move people to thank us. But we must always stand firm. Let nothing move us. Always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because we know that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. No eyes have seen nor ears heard or man can comprehend what God has in store for those who does the work of the kingdom. Your true thank you” awaits you in heaven!

In working for the Lord all that you say and all that you do must be shown approved in God’s sight! Oh Jesus! I can not wait to hear the words “Well done my good and faithful servant!” So, what ever you are doing for God, let me say this and get it out of the way right now. Man will not “Thank you” because the work you are doing for the Lord is greater than man can understand. Our thoughts are not like His thoughts and our ways are not like His ways. It does not matter whether you are singing in the choir, cleaning the church, teaching Sunday School, on the radio, or writing a weekly blog! Do not look for man’s approval but seek God’s acceptance of your work through Prayer and Fasting. And you SHALL get the greatest “THANK YOU” for a truly “THANKLESS” job. Have a blessed week. Have a blessed Labor Day! In Jesus’ name! Shabach Shalom!

By: Pastor Dr. Michael L. Hargett
Copyright 2009 © TBMN, Inc.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Put All Your Trust In God!

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others. --Philippians 2:3-4 This past week, God blessed me to minister to my older sister in New Jersey. She called me because of a business deal that had not gone the way she had hoped. In short, a friend under cut the deal and gained the property in their own interest. For those who do not know my sister, she epitomizes this week's scripture. She is a wonderful person with a free and giving spirit. Over the years, I have and watched as she would give loans to family and friends many of these loans were never repaid. I can not recall one single instant where she has every asked for money back that she has given to me. She elected to stay in New Jersey to be close to our Mother, while the rest of us moved on and out of Newark, N.J. and til this day, I have never heard her complain or voice an...
Post a Comment
Read more

SOMETIMES WAITING IS HARD

ECCLESIASTES 3:11 11God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end. We are taught at a very young age to be excited about expected events. I remember as a child that I could hardly wait for my birthday, holidays, and Summer Breaks. Sometimes as an adult I find myself anxious waiting for things I desire from God. I heard someone say that as we look at our watches; God looks at the calendar. Waiting on God is sometimes a difficult discipline for believers to develop. By nature we're not patient, and our culture offers little encouragement to develop the habit. We want, we need, and we believe that we deserve what we desire now. Credit card companies and retailers have made billions of dollars on this fact alone. There is no doubt many of us may be waiting for a number of things, too: a victory, a healing, peace in the family, growth in the family, vi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Happy New Year!

Genesis 1:1-5 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was a vast waste, darkness covered the deep, and the spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water. God said: "Let there be light," and there was light; and God saw the light was good, and he separated the light from darkness. He called the light day, and the darkness night. So evening came, and morning came; it was the first day. The year 2007 is gone, finished, past. We cannot reclaim it or undo it. The New Year, like a newborn child, which is placed in our hands as the old year passes away. We cannot rest on the things it has brought us. The days and weeks to come are God's gift; they carry God's blessing and the time to show our faith in Jesus as Lord. Let's journey forward, knowing that God already inhabits the future and promises to provide us refreshment. My prayer for the year ending is that all that was good in it remain with us an all that was harmful be left behind. We...
Post a Comment
Read more