God has given every believer so much work to do in this life such that I see no time for other things such as attending or participating in circular entertainment. The truth we all much accept is that God’s works is not optional, a suggestion or a by the way but a commandment. I had to ask myself again and again if I have to write this article or not because it simply does not seem feasible to be in God’s work on a full time basis. I got to the same conclusion, there is no time for anything else other than fulfilling God’s will.
There are two major categories that call for a Christian to be in full time participation of what God has commended;
- Working out one’s salvation
- Ministering to others
I will start with ministry then move on to working out one’s salvation.
Ministry
It is important to know your ministry and once you do, aim at fulfilling it. Paul in 1 Timothy 4:14 commands that we should complete our God given ministry. He further instructs the church in Colosse to tell Archippus to be sure to carry out the work the Lord gave them (Colossians 4:17).
Ministry is given to serve others in the Christian walk. For this reason, everyone has a God given ministry as a tool of service in the body of Christ. In Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:8-11 and Ephesians 4:11 some of the gifts are listed. You may review the list to help yourself understand and identify one which you could be neglecting.
If at all you are confused as to what you must do as an individual, take pleasure is doing that which all believers are called to do. Just as an example, believers are called to share the Gospel (Matthew 28:16 – 20). Soul winning is a ministry assigned to every believer. Discipling others is one other ministry which every believer should fulfil.
Working out your salvation
Spiritual growth is desirable, that is why Paul says that he does not glory in the one who draws back (Hebrews 10:38). If you don’t help yourself grow, you will not grow. The call is for every believer to work out his or her salvation in fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). This is a continuous exercise for a believer. Entering into Heaven after this life is not as easy as we may have been taught.
There are a number of things a believer should be cautious of and keep working on as s/he lives the life of Christianity. These are things s/he should be working on in a continuous bases. They include the following:
- Restitutions
- Shunning idle words
- Perfecting one’s heart
- Loving others
- Forgiving unconditionally
- Works of service
- Identifying and fleeing worldliness
- Giving / offering to others and the church
- Holiness
I’m sure you are a witness to the fact that these are just a few of what a believer should observe. You also would agree with me if I say that these are not easy to keep and do diligently. It is a full time assignment that only a 100% success rate is expected.
The end of it all
Ministry and working out one’s salvation require one to be out searching for information to excel in both. Whenever you get time which you would call idle, you are better listening to a sermon, Gospel music, watching a Christian video, reading a Christian article, praying, reading the Bible, preaching, etc. than picking a circular entertainment event to waste your time on. The Christian activities are just too many for the 24 hours each of us has in a day. I bet you would not have time to listen to a circular audio track at the cost of enriching your soul with what God wants from you if you want to make it to Heaven.
We shall all give an account of how we worked in our ministry and and how we worked out our salvation when we finally present ourselves in the sight of God. It is a given that if you have not done a thing or was not diligent in your assignment, you will lament lost opportunities and later get eternal punishment.
The reality that time may be out any time from now keeps me on toes in my God given assignments. Let me make an example of myself. I have a gift of preaching in form of live sermons, articles, videos and audio. All these depend largely in my eyes. My eyes were given to me by God yet if something would happen to them that would make me blind or have a poor eye sight, my ministry would suffer and I would lament lost opportunities which I hardly realize in my day to day life. Each time the reality of the shortness of our lives strikes, I always purpose to keep working on my ministry while I can.
What then shall we do to meet the standard? It is of great importance to be a person of prayer, seeking God’s grace upon your life because you can never be up to the level God wants but can only be qualified through His grace (Romans 3:20 – 24).
Be blessed.
Revised: 14/6/18
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