Be Encouraged
24 April, 2008 by Thad
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” - 1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV)
Be encouraged. Be very encouraged.
That is what I hear emanating from Paul as he concludes his treatment of the power of the gospel 1 Corinthians 15. Be encouraged as you are reminded that, because of what Jesus has done, your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
There are a number of things that can keep us from faithful service to Christ, but one of the hardest to deal with can be a settled sense of hopelessness—that what I’m doing for Jesus is of no use and is making no difference. Pastors may feel as though nothing is happening in their church. Parents who have sought to instill gospel truth in their children may feel discouraged as they watch their sons and daughters stray. Christians may feel like throwing in the towel after trying for months to love their enemies, pray for and witness to a lost coworker, or be a light for Christ, without seeing many results.
Seasons like this can be discouraging. But Paul wants us to be encouraged. He wants us to be reminded that our service to Christ is not useless. It is not pointless. It is not in vain. God may not use our work for him in the ways we think are best, but he nevertheless takes notice and makes use of broken vessels in ways that only eternity will finally show.
So be encouraged. As Paul says, be steadfast and immovable. Dig in your heels. Be stubborn in your determination to serve Christ in this world. Don’t give up. He is using you.
Be encouraged.
Amen brother,
I heard a sermon by John Piper recently on evangelism (it’s one of the ones I linked to recently where he used this verse to encourage us to just get on with speaking of Christ, even if we are not accomplished at it, or well versed in it, or even if we think we made a mess of past efforts…his point was…”your labour is not in vain”!
It’s not up to us…people are converted by the Holy Spirit…”in the Lord”…what’s amazing is that he ordinarily uses stammering half-wits like us to accomplish his eternal glory.
Paul
JP-thanks for the reminder. I need to give that a listen.
What you said spurned another thought in me. As you know, I’m all for correct theology, so don’t misunderstand me, but we need to be careful that we don’t give the impression that you have to master a systematics course before God can use you to reach people. So often, it seems like the most “effective” evangelists–or the most active and that God seems to use–are those who have just been saved and have nothing but a passion to see others come to know him. They may say and do some silly things, but somehow that doesn’t seem to get in God’s way.
Lord help those of us who think we need to have the learning of “Edwards” before we can talk to “Bill” across the street.
Correct Thad,
Especially Calvinists I feel suffer from this in a peculiar way….”I need to make sure I don’t say anything Arminian”!
Thankfully God does not depend on perfection in anything we do, if He did then we would be hampered from the start in seeing any fruit.
Paul