Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Our Task

I have often felt that I was born at the wrong time and place.

I have wished that I could be like Peter at Pentecost and preach a sermon to which thousands would respond. But if I were like Peter, I would carry with me the memory of having denied my Lord, and of having engaged in a terrible display of racial prejudice at Antioch.

I have wished that I could be like Paul and write wonderful documents that would be treasured through the centuries. But if I were like Paul, that would mean carrying with me the memory of having caused others to suffer and die for their faith in Christ. It would involve facing beating, imprisonment and other abuses.

Maybe I should just be satisfied to be me. Maybe I should just serve the Lord in the here and now, in the quiet ways he has assigned to me, in this generation. As the song says,

If you cannot sing like angels,
If you can’t preach like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.

Or as the Lord told Baruch,

… do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the LORD. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go. ( Jeremiah 45:5, ESV)

Or as Paul told the Colossians,

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24, ESV)

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