May 15

Colossians 1:29 (NIV)
29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

There is no way to get away from hard work. My son was telling me about a friend and that friend wanted to take a “break” from seeking God. His question was, “when do you just get to chill?” In our walk with God we are either paddling upstream or floating downstream, there are no lakes in our walk with Christ. But here Paul is talking about something way beyond that, He is talking about ministry. Some might say that this verse doesn’t apply to them because they are not in the ministry – oh contraire. We are all in the ministry. Our lives are on display for all to see and we are either having positive effect or negative effect or no effect.

The question is did Jesus give us His Spirit so we could “chill” or “coast” or be good people, or live “our” lives to the fullest, or just make it through life – God forbid! We are all to example Paul who is laboring – with great effort – with the energy that Christ has given him – that makes him able because it is the energy within him! To do what? Minister! His life is about the Kingdom of God, winning others to Christ, discipling others and then finally his own life. You have what it takes! God is in you to work in you and through you to make you a powerful, able and effective minister! Don’t settle for anything less!