Small Things (2 of 2)
Eddie Snipes
3/2008
Success belongs to the Lord
One thing each Christian must fully realize is that the fruit of our work is of the Lord and success belongs to Him. The Lord gives us commandment and we enter into His work. It is NOT what we do for God, but what God does through us. Success belongs to Him alone. I frequently use a biblical illustration that I believe shows this principle clearly. In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and John we see an event where Jesus told the disciples to get in the boat and go to the other side and He would come and meet them. The disciples rowed most of the night against the wind and were making very little progress. They could have easily justified turning back and waiting out the storm that was blowing against them, but they did not. Jesus' command was to row to the other side and they were faithful to that command. His promise was that He would come and meet them. Jesus was on the mountain near where they departed and watched them toiling fruitlessly in their hard labors. After many hours, He came walking on the sea, got in the boat and He took them to the other side.
This so beautifully illustrates the labors of the Christian life. God has not promised us an easy ride, nor does God put on us the burden of succeeding in the work. We only have two callings: to know God and to obey God. We know Him through seeking Him and studying the word; we obey God by keeping His commandments. It is hard not to get discouraged when we are rowing against the current and see little or no fruit from our labors; however, we must take our eyes off of success and keep our focus on obedience. God will let us struggle and toil fruitlessly against the wind to test our faithfulness. You will ALWAYS have an excuse to turn back, but you must press on as you wait for the Lord to accomplish His work in His own time.
If you think you should be creating success or producing fruit, you are looking at the work from a fleshly pe ...
Eddie Snipes
3/2008
Success belongs to the Lord
One thing each Christian must fully realize is that the fruit of our work is of the Lord and success belongs to Him. The Lord gives us commandment and we enter into His work. It is NOT what we do for God, but what God does through us. Success belongs to Him alone. I frequently use a biblical illustration that I believe shows this principle clearly. In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and John we see an event where Jesus told the disciples to get in the boat and go to the other side and He would come and meet them. The disciples rowed most of the night against the wind and were making very little progress. They could have easily justified turning back and waiting out the storm that was blowing against them, but they did not. Jesus' command was to row to the other side and they were faithful to that command. His promise was that He would come and meet them. Jesus was on the mountain near where they departed and watched them toiling fruitlessly in their hard labors. After many hours, He came walking on the sea, got in the boat and He took them to the other side.
This so beautifully illustrates the labors of the Christian life. God has not promised us an easy ride, nor does God put on us the burden of succeeding in the work. We only have two callings: to know God and to obey God. We know Him through seeking Him and studying the word; we obey God by keeping His commandments. It is hard not to get discouraged when we are rowing against the current and see little or no fruit from our labors; however, we must take our eyes off of success and keep our focus on obedience. God will let us struggle and toil fruitlessly against the wind to test our faithfulness. You will ALWAYS have an excuse to turn back, but you must press on as you wait for the Lord to accomplish His work in His own time.
If you think you should be creating success or producing fruit, you are looking at the work from a fleshly pe ...
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