Work vs. Will
Living in the last days when all of Creation awaits Christ’s return, we get to see the Spirit of the Lord continually purifying and refining the Church for the return of the Son. Indeed, restoration of the Lord’s ministry is coming to the body of Christ. Multitudes are coming to the knowledge of Christ daily. More and more ministries have been raised up in our midst to serve the growing body of believers. We have been brought nearer to the harvest fields than we’ve ever been. However, while the progress in establishing God’s kingdom takes place through concentrated efforts these days, the devil’s attacks on His works have also increased. The devil has not given up frustrating the works of God but has even stepped up on his efforts to corrupt this beautiful redemption of God. Well aware that God is seeking to take delight in a Bride that is pure and holy, free from uncleanness and cleansed from unrighteousness, Satan militates against the restoration of the church, so as to obstruct us from doing God’s will. Paul once said, “… where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Rom. 5:20). However, we see in our present life circumstances that where grace abounds sin also abounds. For even as God is deepening His roots in the hearts of His children, many have fallen away, totally ensnared by the devil’s lure. Here, I perceive in the spirit two things that are especially intensified as the Spirit of God prepares the Church for the return of Christ. They are false works and sexual immorality. As ungodliness and unrighteousness generally increase to bring defilement to the Holy Bride of Christ (the Church), these two sins are particularly heightened over the others. That is to say, we will see more sexual sins and false works being committed during this period. Here, we will address false works, which hinder and deter many from fulfilling the work that God has called them to.
Let us recall the years of Israel’s bondage, when she was under slavery in the land of Egypt. Very clearly, God was not pleased with the work that the Egyptians had burdened Israel with, and He accordingly sent Moses to lead them out of their labour. Moses went to Pharoah with a voice that said, “Let my people go”(Ex. 5:1). It was an edict from the Almighty God, but instead of complying, Pharoah responded by “let them not regard false words” (Ex. 5:9). With that, Pharoah added to the Israelites labour so that they would not have time to think about other things except give their all to the work that had been set before them!
In these days of a resurgence of the prophetic ministry, one of the things that God has called His prophets to do is to point the way and lead His people to break away from the traditions and conventional wisdom that we have all this while been subjected to. In a way, God is raising the “Moseses” of today (His prophetic people) to stand before His people and declare the “new” work of the Lord. Representing the voice of God, they are saying to Satan, “Let My people go,” so that they can enter the promise land and do the work that He has called them to. Unfortunately, Satan is today using the same deception that He caused Pharoah to use against Israel. The “gathering of straw” was an additional load that Pharoah added to Israel’s labour (Ex. 5:7-8). Previously, straw was given to the people to make brick; now they had to gather the straw themselves. Likewise, we live in a world that revolves around work. Work reigns supreme is quite obvious in the secular realm. Unfortunately, this phenomenon has caught up with us in the realm of the spirit as well! Some of us are so burdened with tons and volumes of work both in the office and in our ministries that we can hardly find time to even take a peek at God’s “To do” list, much less do them! The result? We end up doing the labour
of Egypt (things we do that are not required of us by God) and we neglect the work of God that will bring us to fulfill His will and purpose in our life.
Things are progressing at an accelerated pace these days, both in the natural as well as in the spiritual. We need to constantly build ourselves up spiritually, bring on the right perspectives to our lives and be discerning in the spirit so that we will not be ensnared into running blindly without checking whether we run the right race or not. Without examining ourselves here, we may really end up channeling our attention and efforts to Egypt’s labour (the unnecessary labour) instead of God’s work. Then, we end up like Israelites “gathering the straw.” If one is not careful, he may unfortunately still be found “gathering the straw” when the Lord comes back for us all. He will not receive his reward, for all his works will be tested with fire and things that are made from ‘straw’ will never be able to withstand the fire that will come and consume all the works that are not of God. Only what is of God, and the work that has been done according to our obedience to Him will remain.
Anointing and Judgment
We may be anointed by the Lord and be filled with such power of God to touch and bring healing and salvation to humanity and yet err in judgment or desire. Miriam and Aaron are two examples that we must learn from so as not to fall into the same mistake. Aaron was the anointed High Priest whom we are familiar with, and Miriam was the prophetess in Israel then. They were both anointed by God, but because the thoughts in their hearts were not right in God’s sight, they were judged by Him. Moses had been the chosen vessel that God had appointed to speak to and to speak through. Miriam and Aaron had not fully realised this fact and were tempted to reject the authority of Moses. Because of this, God judged them severely.
We need to learn from their experience with God’s severity. God, being all sovereign and all-knowing, knows exactly who He would appoint to accomplish a certain work for Him. In order for God’s work to be effectively carried out, we ought to support and submit to the vessel that God has chosen for the work. There is no place for jealousy to exist alongside God’s sovereign choice. We are to be obedient to His appointment, no matter who that person may be or no matter how well we think we ourselves are able to meet up to the expectations in that particular work. For ultimately, we need to remind ourselves that it is not we who have the full knowledge of what God intends, but God Himself. Thus, on virtue of His having higher revelation that surpasses all our understanding, God Himself should be trusted to appoint the right person for His work, and we should submit to that authority. As God is raising up His prophets and apostles to build up His church, we should be wise and discerning in appropriating His gifts for perfecting the body of Christ.
Allow me to share with you a vision that once came to me. I saw a body of moving water. It was a strong and endless stream of water that flowed unhindered. In that stream of moving waters, however, the complexion of the waters was not clear. There were several sticks and stones that were in that stream. However, the currents were so powerful that the waters ran unhindered. They rushed past the sticks and the stones, swept them away in the waves of their currents and uprooted them from their place. The waters continued to flow supremely, removing all the sticks and stones that got in its way. This went on until I noticed, a little later, that the stream of waters had changed in its complexion. It was no longer as before, with all the sticks and stones being carried about its troubled waters; but it was clear, pure and clean, totally unpolluted and untainted. Then, the Spirit of the Lord began to speak to me, saying, “This is the stream of the Holy Spirit coming upon the Church. The time has come for the Spirit of God to take over. The sticks and the stones are the things that are hindering His flow in the work of God. These are men and the works of man that were not intended by the Lord. God is removing them both. Anything that is not of God will soon be washed away and they will be no more. Those who persist in their undertakings will do so with much strife because the grace of God will not be present to enable their commitments. Only those who are discerning in the Spirit will continue to flow with His grace to accomplish His work in the world.” By His mercy, let us constantly examine our hearts, making sure our consciences are constantly clear before God so that we will not be one of those ‘sticks and stones’ that get into the way of the Holy Spirit’s stream. Remember the error Abraham made when he tried to bring into fulfillment God’s promise of a son by conceiving Ishmael through the slave woman Hagar. Till today, we are still reaping the fruits of the seed that was sown out of man’s wisdom rather than faith, for the fruit of Ishmael continues to pose a hindrance to the fruit of Isaac (Gal. 4:29).
There are basically two kinds of sin in the way of man’s service unto God. One is the sin of disobedience and the other the mistake of doing what the Lord has not commanded. The former is the sin of rebellion while the other is that of presumption. If only Saul had been more perceptive, then he would have known that it takes more than just good intentions and noble works to please the Lord. True, Saul was commendably zealous in serving the Lord. However, he failed the test of obedience. When God required him to completely wipe out the Amalekites and their livestock, Saul paid more consideration to his own understanding and chose to spare the best of the cattle and sheep for a sacrifice unto the Lord. Surely killing everything as commanded would have been easier for Saul, but he chose to keep the best of the livestock for God, thinking that God would be happy to receive them as animal sacrifices. However, as the story went, instead of appreciating his thoughtfulness as Saul had expected, God saw Saul’s initiative as a sore act of disobedience. How often we reckon evil things as sins but good things as righteousness. God, however, reckons things differently. Instead of differentiating good and evil by appearance, He looks into the way a thing is done and the attitude that accomplished it.
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?” “…To obey is better than sacrifice…” (1 Sam. 15:22).
Saul’s sacrifice, made out of disobedience, was unacceptable to God. It became clear God expected obedience even if that cost Him a voluntary offering from us. He would rather have us honour Him through obedience to His word than have us bring Him offering of any other kind.
Perhaps we should consider why God would rather have our obedience than our sacrifice. In any case, both share the same objective – the obedience and sacrifice are offered so as to please God. So why then does God say that to obey is better than sacrifice? The reason is rather simple. It is because there is the element of sacrifice in every act of obedience. Every time we choose to obey God, we sacrifice our own will in the event. Obedience requires sacrifice – when you obey a person, you give up (sacrifice) your own will and adopt his will. This is why to obey God means much more than any sacrifice, since in obeying we already make the greatest sacrifice, which is that of ourselves and our will. For what greater thing can a man lose besides his will and power of choice? But when we obey God, we are giving away our power of choice and will in that situation, which is really the greatest sacrifice we can ever give to God. That is why we are called to present ourselves as living sacrifices. Every time we walk in obedience, we are fulfilling the call to sacrifice of ourselves.
Right from the beginning, God already showed us this principle of denying ourselves. The first time that Abraham had to sacrifice something, he sacrificed something of himself. He gave up his name, Abram, to adopt the new name that the Lord gave to him. Abraham willingly gave his name, (the thing that gives us our identity) to receive what the Lord thought was more appropriate for him. That was the faith that Abraham had in God. The Lord Jesus Himself, whose being is so perfect that no sin could be found in Him, also gave up His own will, so that God’s will may be done. What greater example do we need? The principle is clear. No sacrifice that we bring to God will be good enough a sacrifice besides the living sacrifice of a life lived in obedience.
The above point cannot be emphasized enough. I believe we all want to honour and magnify the Lord in our lives. There are many ways we can do that, but the thing that brings that highest honour and glory to God is nothing else but our obedience. Obedience is honouring God absolutely because it is the denying of our ways and the adoption of all of God’s ways. When we say that we obey God, we mean that what we think about a matter, or what we planned to do in a situation, is no longer an issue. What matters is what God thinks and wants. This is then the kind of attitude we ought to embrace in our relationship with God. Especially in our service unto God, we should be careful to obey Him wholly and fully. Should even a hint of rebellion be found in our service unto Him, then we can actually end up hindering rather than fulfilling the Lord’s work.
The greatest honour we can give to anyone is to do whatever that person desires. There is therefore only one supreme way to give God the highest honour—that is to obey Him. The work that the Lord had set before Saul was to kill every living person and animal in Amalek. But Saul did more: Note how he did not do less than what he was told but more. He killed all the people but allowed the best cattle and sheep to remain untouched and prepared them for a sacrifice unto the Lord. He did more, yet this “extra mile” that he undertook was rejected and he was even reprimanded because of that. While he was acting out on this self-derived initiative, Saul probably thought he was doing a good thing, but now when we read of that account, we are able to recognise it as a false work that the devil had deceived him into doing—a work that actually brought him reproach instead of reward. Likewise, we are not to be careless in these things, but to always be cautious that we obey accordingly, lest we also end up being a labourer of false works that will reap no good reward.
In this current move of restoring the church, not just people are needed for the work, but much finance is also needed to carry out the plans and visions that have been given to the body of Christ. If we are not careful, we may end up channeling these resources to false works instead of the genuine work of the Lord. How then, to be sure that we are not frustrating the plans of God by taking up false works? The key lies in withdrawing. Yes, we need to learn how to withdraw in order to advance. We need to take one step back occasionally from our works to re-examine our works and wait upon the Lord. We can rest assured that there is no time lost in waiting when we wait upon the Lord (Isa. 28:16). Not one of us can walk the spiritual path based on our natural wisdom or reasoning. This is because the divine God will always be beyond human comprehension and reasoning. For this reason, let us always be ready to forsake our ways in exchange for the higher ways of God.
Christ Our Foundation
Every person in the Lord’s ministry will have to answer an important question very consciously: What is the foundation that we are building upon? Paul specifically reminds us: “Let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:10-11). Church-centered activities, Christian meetings, outreach programs and community projects alone do not in itself constitute a true God-sanctioned foundation of a spiritual work no matter the efforts expended and successes reaped. Such outreaches are necessary, to be sure, and thank God for all the great harvest that have been brought in because of these projects; but they are not meant to be the ground on which any church or ministry can base its growth on. Activities they are, and activities they shall remain, regardless of how effective they have proven to be. Only Jesus alone is the rock on which every church, ministry and body of believers must be founded. We can’t adopt another’s success in ministry as our model and expect the same results from our similar labour. It just doesn’t work that way.
Because every area of harvest is special to the Lord, His word or messages to different groups will be special and unique . When John the disciple received revelation on Patmos, God had separate messages for each of the seven churches existing in Asia Minor. Though situated in the same region and in the same era, the churches had a different message each.
Every one and every body of believers are special as far as God is concerned. It is easy to foresee the kind of knotty situations that we may get into when we try to follow after every pattern of success. When presented with different models of success, for example, which model do we adopt? For this reason, we need a constant. Christ is that constant that we need, and Him alone do we follow. Think about the three prominent heroes of faith Peter, John and Paul. Jesus appointed Peter to win thousands after thousands for Him, putting him out at the public front. However, he destined John for a solitary life on the island of Patmos, and sent Paul away from His chosen race to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. All three men, as they turned out, were great men in the Bible, but all three led very different lives. Whose example then are we to take after? Do we seize at every opportunity to preach the gospel like Peter the evangelist? Do we spend hours after hours and days after days waiting in solitude for a revelation like John? Or do we run from nation to nation preaching from continent to continent like Paul did? Or if we cannot decide, do we then try to do everything that these apostles had done? No. It was never meant to be. Peter, John and Paul were all great men of God, but they should never be our perfect role models. We were never called to model our lives after any other person except our Lord Jesus. If we faithfully follow the Lord Jesus, then we need not worry about whether God is pleased with what we are doing or becoming, for He will make us the person He wants us to be. Even if He calls us to spend our days sitting by His feet and listening to His heartbeat, then that is what we must do. For instance, there was Anna the prophetess who “did not depart from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers night and day” (Lk. 2:37). People around may begin to wonder aloud about your perceived “idleness,” but in God’s eyes, your faithfulness to obey and trust means far more than any amount of labour you can sow into His work. Most people find themselves more concerned over the development in God’s work than that of their relationship with Him. We need to get the order of things right. Who we are with Him is far more important to God than what we do for Him. If we have an intimate and healthy relationship with the Lord, then there is no fear that we would not do His work. However, it is only too easy for one to get so caught up with doing the Lord’s work that he forgets about God in the process! One can be following the Lord’s ministry all the way and serving dutifully at all times yet whose heart is not with the Lord. Judas Iscariot was one such person. He went everywhere with Jesus and the other disciples. He was even the treasurer of the group. However, it was not anyone from the hostile and unresponsive multitude who betrayed the Lord Jesus but Judas himself. This goes to show that our involvement in the Lord’s ministry is not a guarantee of our relationship with Him. It is dangerously possible that our hearts can grow cold towards the Lord in whose ministry we partake of every day.
There are many of us who pray for great signs and wonders to happen, and there are even more who hope and pray for miracles. However, there are not many who would seek God for the greatest miracle—that is, a life transformed into one that is pleasing to the Father. It is quite understandable why most of us find ourselves to be so. This is because we live in a result-oriented world where almost every person is driven to perform and deliver results. As a consequence, we end up more familiar with being a servant of God than a child of God. This phenomenon is dangerous because though a father may rely heavily on his servants to run his errands, there are however certain things which he would withhold from them and entrust only his sons to handle those things. This is because he would not expect the servants to fathom his heart as well as his own children would. And we can be sure that this one thing that the Father reserves for his children to do will weigh much more in glory and honour than all the tasks that the servants have done for him! Let the devil not deceive us in this. God has a special ministry reserved for those whose hearts are after His own and who has put on the mind of Christ so that his mind is renewed to know the heart of God. We believe that a great flow of power is going to be released upon the church that will bring healing and miracles into our midst. Recipients of this ministry will experience the power of God so tangibly that they will be identified by the love, compassion and mercy of Christ. It will be a most glorious ministry indeed, and the central conveyance of this move will be Christ-likeness. God is not going to hand such a precious ministry to just anyone but will choose the ones whose lives have the life of God wrought in them. These will be people who have yielded themselves wholly to the Lord in obedience and trust. Having entirely given of themselves to the will of God, these people will be able to receive His will with undivided hearts. They will be carriers of this mighty move of the Holy Spirit into the church and will be co-labourers with God in bringing His will to pass.
Christ In Us
How deeply ingrained in us is the desire for the praise and glory of men. Only after much dealing and learning from the Lord can it be removed from the marrow of our soul. May we ask God for mercy that we may be delivered from the enticement of the glory of man. God’s desire is that men should be like Him, glorified and conformed to the image of His Son (Eph. 1:4-5; Rom. 8:29-30). For this reason, He started by creating us in His own image (Gen. 1:27).
Think about the spiritual stature of the apostle Paul. Once when he was consulted on a spiritual issue, he made this statement: “I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment.” Why when the Lord had not spoken Paul could speak a word of authority? It is because as he later said, “I think I also have the Spirit of God.” This is the degree of intimacy between the apostle and God! Paul had so yielded himself to God whose life was so wrought in him that he identified with even the Divine Spirit, and he knew Him. Paul knew the ways of God, even His heartbeat; that was why he could pass a judgment and have his listeners receive it as a directive from the Lord. Shouldn’t this also be the standard for all of us as God’s beloved children? In all our pursuits of knowing God, this is the intimacy that a disciple can reach with Him. Where God is concerned, there might perhaps be something even greater and spectacular than this; but let us start by first positioning ourselves to grow towards the stage of fellowship which Paul had with God. Allow Him to so weave His life and ways into us that our being becomes knitted into His being, that what we do, say, and be may run parallel with God’s Spirit.
In his letter to the Galatian church, Paul said that the gospel he preached was given to him by divine revelation. In his words, he yielded himself to God to let God work in Him “to reveal His Son in (him)” (Gal. 1:12, 15-16). Paul ran to the pulpit straight after he had the supernatural encounter with the Lord Jesus. There, he learned a lesson and subsequently retreated to the Lord’s bosom to let Christ be formed in him first. Then, with Christ within, Paul knew that he could preach Christ without. Paul preached whatever he had. Thus, inasmuch as he had known Christ, he preached Christ. The same goes for us. It is not possible for us to preach what we do not know or to minister and give what we do not have. Our responsibility is to co-operate with God. We were not really meant to work for Him, so to speak, but rather to work with Him. For unless the Lord builds, we labour in vain (Psa. 127:1). Even when we do our best for God we can still sometimes end up frustrating His purpose . If we focus only on doing what we think makes up God’s work and neglect seeking His will, we are not only unable to give an acceptable account of ourselves to God but, worse, we may even end up bearing a reproach for our presumptuousness. It’s just like how Jesus rebuked Peter. Even though his thought of wanting his Lord to be safe from harm was perfectly genuine and innocent, it was however an error in that it threatened the fulfillment of the divine plan. Our thoughts, plans and motives, if not examined in the light of God’s purpose, may end up stalling instead of progressing His work.
The Will Of God
A group of people once sought the Lord, asking, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?” (Jn. 6:28). Indeed a question that reflects the zeal they had for God. However, the Bible does not list “zeal” as one of either the gifts or fruit of the Holy Spirit. Contrastingly, zeal that is a result of fleshly ambitions actually produces fruit that will draw a person away from enjoying his relationship with the Lord towards an immersion in religious activities. Paul warned of such a condition where people “have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10:2). When we rely on zeal to drive us in doing the work of God, we are forfeiting His grace that will enable and equip us for the same purpose. Also, we are giving up the space for an enjoyable relationship with Him. Plagued with a constant drive for work, no one could really explore and enjoy other aspects of relationship with another person, could he?
In response to the people’s offer of serving Him, Jesus answered, “This is the work of God”, “that you believe on Him whom He hath sent” (Jn. 6:29). The people were more than ready to serve the Lord, and they were eager to know what they could do for Jesus. However, Jesus had something else in mind. Instead of telling them they could do something for Him, He told them to simply believe on Him. Why “believe”? On another occasion when the word “believe” is used in the Bible, it has the meaning of “receive” (John 1:12). We all know that John was talking about receiving the Lord Jesus into our lives before He calls us His children. Likewise, before we can do anything for God, we have to first receive from Him. We need to receive His divine wisdom in exchange for our conventional wisdom, His perfect ways for our imperfect ones, and His power for our weaknesses. Without this, all that we can offer would be what any other diligent and determined person can offer, no more! In order to go beyond the ordinary service to render a work and service that delights the Lord, we have to lay aside our plans and be ready to trust and believe Him for His plans. Only then will we be able to see the “greater works” being done in our midst that we are destined for. The reason why these “greater works” flow from us is because Christ works in us to bring about these things. Therefore, without first allowing Him to work in us and later through us, we will be striving all our lives only to deliver a ministry that is run-of-the-mill, passable but not remarkable. Certainly, the Lord’s will is not for us to settle for such low standards, especially where His work is concerned. His will is to prosper us, for, remember, we are a people set apart for His glory.
For some, the prelude to being used for fulfilling the purposes of God can be years of anonymous servanthood while being led to a place of contentment just in knowing Him and enjoying His presence. And when we think we are just one step away from being put to a task, the Lord continues the testing by allowing us to be passed over while He blesses others in their services unto Him. This is not God making a sport of us, but it is surely one way we learn to be truly happy for others who are getting what we desire, when we aren’t.
Before we decide on anything for the Lord’s ministry, let us remember to first seek His thoughts and will on that matter: “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ…” (1 Pet. 4:11). God never meant for us to work independently of Him. When serving the Lord, we are to do so with reverence. The acceptable way to serving the Lord is through “reverence and godly fear,” says the author of Hebrews (Heb. 12:28-29). Moses paid a heavy price for misrepresenting God in his service (Num. 20:2-3, 7-13). Because of that one mistake, [despite] his countless good works, he was banned from partaking the promises God made to Abraham!
Having said this, let us always remember to always seek to know the Father first before we start on His work. In our walk with God, it is important for us to value and mature the Father and child relationship above our service unto Him. Since He has called us His ambassadors (and we represent Him therefore), let us be sure that we get His intents and purposes correct before we make a public statement before men.
Consider the teachings of Paul. We know him as a man of high moral fibre, whose heart was sold out for God, and who was in our hearts considered one of the most outstanding of the apostles of Christ. So zealous was he and so involved in the work of the Lord that he ministered to almost every corner of the known world in his time. Yet, realise that in all his epistles to the churches, both great and small, Paul wrote to them more on how they could and ought to develop their fellowship with God than he did on how they could contribute to the Lord’s ministry. In his letter to the church in Rome, he gave them the principles of living a victorious Christian life (Rom. 6 – 8), and in his epistle to the Corinth church, he warned about service not accompanied with love (1 Cor. 13). Even his prayer for the people was that they might grow in their spirit man, at the same time maturing in their knowledge of God (Eph. 2; 1:15-23; 3:14-21). When Paul taught on serving God, he reminded the Colossians that they should be “filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” so that they might be “fruitful in every good work” while at the same time still “increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:9-10). Indeed, Paul saw that it was entrusted to him that he should impart and help develop Christ in the lives of the people he was sent to. We know this from his heart’s confession in Gal. 4:19 when he said, “I labour in birth again until Christ is formed in you.”
No doubt zealous servants are treasures in the kingdom of God where the “labourers are few,” but it must also be said that nothing pleases the Father as much as having children who know Him for who He really is. The Lord Jesus spent at least 30 years waiting on the Father God before He took on servanthood for His last 31/2 years. A short time of service unto God no doubt, but regarding His work for God, He was able to say, “It is finished.”
In closing this series on the Call of God, I would like to recount a story someone once shared with me. A lighthouse keeper who worked on a rocky stretch of coastline received his new supply of oil once a month to keep the light burning. The lighthouse not being far from the shore, he had frequent guests. One night a woman from a nearby village begged the keeper for some oil to keep her family warm. Another time a father asked for some to use in his lamp that he might light the path on his way back home. Another needed some to lubricate a wheel of his motorcar. Since all the requests seemed legitimate, the lighthouse keeper tried to please everyone and granted all their requests. Toward the end of the month he noticed the supply of oil was very low. Soon the oil was all gone, and the beacon went out. That night several ships were wrecked and many lives were lost. When the authorities investigated, the man was very repentant. But to all his excuses and pleading their deafening reply was, “You are given oil for one purpose - to keep the light burning !”
Do not sacrifice the best by giving its ration to the good. Like the lighthouse keeper, many a times we use the “oil of God” upon our lives casually, forgetting that we will one day be accountable for it. We all have a plan and a purpose, and how much of the Lord’s work we are effectively doing is really tied to the degree of our obedience. We pray that all of us will take the Call of God in our lives seriously so that we can all live out our fullest potential on this earth according to His divine plan, and, having done that, to receive our crown when we meet the Lord in glory.
Living in the last days when all of Creation awaits Christ’s return, we get to see the Spirit of the Lord continually purifying and refining the Church for the return of the Son. Indeed, restoration of the Lord’s ministry is coming to the body of Christ. Multitudes are coming to the knowledge of Christ daily. More and more ministries have been raised up in our midst to serve the growing body of believers. We have been brought nearer to the harvest fields than we’ve ever been. However, while the progress in establishing God’s kingdom takes place through concentrated efforts these days, the devil’s attacks on His works have also increased. The devil has not given up frustrating the works of God but has even stepped up on his efforts to corrupt this beautiful redemption of God. Well aware that God is seeking to take delight in a Bride that is pure and holy, free from uncleanness and cleansed from unrighteousness, Satan militates against the restoration of the church, so as to obstruct us from doing God’s will. Paul once said, “… where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Rom. 5:20). However, we see in our present life circumstances that where grace abounds sin also abounds. For even as God is deepening His roots in the hearts of His children, many have fallen away, totally ensnared by the devil’s lure. Here, I perceive in the spirit two things that are especially intensified as the Spirit of God prepares the Church for the return of Christ. They are false works and sexual immorality. As ungodliness and unrighteousness generally increase to bring defilement to the Holy Bride of Christ (the Church), these two sins are particularly heightened over the others. That is to say, we will see more sexual sins and false works being committed during this period. Here, we will address false works, which hinder and deter many from fulfilling the work that God has called them to.
Let us recall the years of Israel’s bondage, when she was under slavery in the land of Egypt. Very clearly, God was not pleased with the work that the Egyptians had burdened Israel with, and He accordingly sent Moses to lead them out of their labour. Moses went to Pharoah with a voice that said, “Let my people go”(Ex. 5:1). It was an edict from the Almighty God, but instead of complying, Pharoah responded by “let them not regard false words” (Ex. 5:9). With that, Pharoah added to the Israelites labour so that they would not have time to think about other things except give their all to the work that had been set before them!
In these days of a resurgence of the prophetic ministry, one of the things that God has called His prophets to do is to point the way and lead His people to break away from the traditions and conventional wisdom that we have all this while been subjected to. In a way, God is raising the “Moseses” of today (His prophetic people) to stand before His people and declare the “new” work of the Lord. Representing the voice of God, they are saying to Satan, “Let My people go,” so that they can enter the promise land and do the work that He has called them to. Unfortunately, Satan is today using the same deception that He caused Pharoah to use against Israel. The “gathering of straw” was an additional load that Pharoah added to Israel’s labour (Ex. 5:7-8). Previously, straw was given to the people to make brick; now they had to gather the straw themselves. Likewise, we live in a world that revolves around work. Work reigns supreme is quite obvious in the secular realm. Unfortunately, this phenomenon has caught up with us in the realm of the spirit as well! Some of us are so burdened with tons and volumes of work both in the office and in our ministries that we can hardly find time to even take a peek at God’s “To do” list, much less do them! The result? We end up doing the labour
of Egypt (things we do that are not required of us by God) and we neglect the work of God that will bring us to fulfill His will and purpose in our life.
Things are progressing at an accelerated pace these days, both in the natural as well as in the spiritual. We need to constantly build ourselves up spiritually, bring on the right perspectives to our lives and be discerning in the spirit so that we will not be ensnared into running blindly without checking whether we run the right race or not. Without examining ourselves here, we may really end up channeling our attention and efforts to Egypt’s labour (the unnecessary labour) instead of God’s work. Then, we end up like Israelites “gathering the straw.” If one is not careful, he may unfortunately still be found “gathering the straw” when the Lord comes back for us all. He will not receive his reward, for all his works will be tested with fire and things that are made from ‘straw’ will never be able to withstand the fire that will come and consume all the works that are not of God. Only what is of God, and the work that has been done according to our obedience to Him will remain.
Anointing and Judgment
We may be anointed by the Lord and be filled with such power of God to touch and bring healing and salvation to humanity and yet err in judgment or desire. Miriam and Aaron are two examples that we must learn from so as not to fall into the same mistake. Aaron was the anointed High Priest whom we are familiar with, and Miriam was the prophetess in Israel then. They were both anointed by God, but because the thoughts in their hearts were not right in God’s sight, they were judged by Him. Moses had been the chosen vessel that God had appointed to speak to and to speak through. Miriam and Aaron had not fully realised this fact and were tempted to reject the authority of Moses. Because of this, God judged them severely.
We need to learn from their experience with God’s severity. God, being all sovereign and all-knowing, knows exactly who He would appoint to accomplish a certain work for Him. In order for God’s work to be effectively carried out, we ought to support and submit to the vessel that God has chosen for the work. There is no place for jealousy to exist alongside God’s sovereign choice. We are to be obedient to His appointment, no matter who that person may be or no matter how well we think we ourselves are able to meet up to the expectations in that particular work. For ultimately, we need to remind ourselves that it is not we who have the full knowledge of what God intends, but God Himself. Thus, on virtue of His having higher revelation that surpasses all our understanding, God Himself should be trusted to appoint the right person for His work, and we should submit to that authority. As God is raising up His prophets and apostles to build up His church, we should be wise and discerning in appropriating His gifts for perfecting the body of Christ.
Allow me to share with you a vision that once came to me. I saw a body of moving water. It was a strong and endless stream of water that flowed unhindered. In that stream of moving waters, however, the complexion of the waters was not clear. There were several sticks and stones that were in that stream. However, the currents were so powerful that the waters ran unhindered. They rushed past the sticks and the stones, swept them away in the waves of their currents and uprooted them from their place. The waters continued to flow supremely, removing all the sticks and stones that got in its way. This went on until I noticed, a little later, that the stream of waters had changed in its complexion. It was no longer as before, with all the sticks and stones being carried about its troubled waters; but it was clear, pure and clean, totally unpolluted and untainted. Then, the Spirit of the Lord began to speak to me, saying, “This is the stream of the Holy Spirit coming upon the Church. The time has come for the Spirit of God to take over. The sticks and the stones are the things that are hindering His flow in the work of God. These are men and the works of man that were not intended by the Lord. God is removing them both. Anything that is not of God will soon be washed away and they will be no more. Those who persist in their undertakings will do so with much strife because the grace of God will not be present to enable their commitments. Only those who are discerning in the Spirit will continue to flow with His grace to accomplish His work in the world.” By His mercy, let us constantly examine our hearts, making sure our consciences are constantly clear before God so that we will not be one of those ‘sticks and stones’ that get into the way of the Holy Spirit’s stream. Remember the error Abraham made when he tried to bring into fulfillment God’s promise of a son by conceiving Ishmael through the slave woman Hagar. Till today, we are still reaping the fruits of the seed that was sown out of man’s wisdom rather than faith, for the fruit of Ishmael continues to pose a hindrance to the fruit of Isaac (Gal. 4:29).
There are basically two kinds of sin in the way of man’s service unto God. One is the sin of disobedience and the other the mistake of doing what the Lord has not commanded. The former is the sin of rebellion while the other is that of presumption. If only Saul had been more perceptive, then he would have known that it takes more than just good intentions and noble works to please the Lord. True, Saul was commendably zealous in serving the Lord. However, he failed the test of obedience. When God required him to completely wipe out the Amalekites and their livestock, Saul paid more consideration to his own understanding and chose to spare the best of the cattle and sheep for a sacrifice unto the Lord. Surely killing everything as commanded would have been easier for Saul, but he chose to keep the best of the livestock for God, thinking that God would be happy to receive them as animal sacrifices. However, as the story went, instead of appreciating his thoughtfulness as Saul had expected, God saw Saul’s initiative as a sore act of disobedience. How often we reckon evil things as sins but good things as righteousness. God, however, reckons things differently. Instead of differentiating good and evil by appearance, He looks into the way a thing is done and the attitude that accomplished it.
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?” “…To obey is better than sacrifice…” (1 Sam. 15:22).
Saul’s sacrifice, made out of disobedience, was unacceptable to God. It became clear God expected obedience even if that cost Him a voluntary offering from us. He would rather have us honour Him through obedience to His word than have us bring Him offering of any other kind.
Perhaps we should consider why God would rather have our obedience than our sacrifice. In any case, both share the same objective – the obedience and sacrifice are offered so as to please God. So why then does God say that to obey is better than sacrifice? The reason is rather simple. It is because there is the element of sacrifice in every act of obedience. Every time we choose to obey God, we sacrifice our own will in the event. Obedience requires sacrifice – when you obey a person, you give up (sacrifice) your own will and adopt his will. This is why to obey God means much more than any sacrifice, since in obeying we already make the greatest sacrifice, which is that of ourselves and our will. For what greater thing can a man lose besides his will and power of choice? But when we obey God, we are giving away our power of choice and will in that situation, which is really the greatest sacrifice we can ever give to God. That is why we are called to present ourselves as living sacrifices. Every time we walk in obedience, we are fulfilling the call to sacrifice of ourselves.
Right from the beginning, God already showed us this principle of denying ourselves. The first time that Abraham had to sacrifice something, he sacrificed something of himself. He gave up his name, Abram, to adopt the new name that the Lord gave to him. Abraham willingly gave his name, (the thing that gives us our identity) to receive what the Lord thought was more appropriate for him. That was the faith that Abraham had in God. The Lord Jesus Himself, whose being is so perfect that no sin could be found in Him, also gave up His own will, so that God’s will may be done. What greater example do we need? The principle is clear. No sacrifice that we bring to God will be good enough a sacrifice besides the living sacrifice of a life lived in obedience.
The above point cannot be emphasized enough. I believe we all want to honour and magnify the Lord in our lives. There are many ways we can do that, but the thing that brings that highest honour and glory to God is nothing else but our obedience. Obedience is honouring God absolutely because it is the denying of our ways and the adoption of all of God’s ways. When we say that we obey God, we mean that what we think about a matter, or what we planned to do in a situation, is no longer an issue. What matters is what God thinks and wants. This is then the kind of attitude we ought to embrace in our relationship with God. Especially in our service unto God, we should be careful to obey Him wholly and fully. Should even a hint of rebellion be found in our service unto Him, then we can actually end up hindering rather than fulfilling the Lord’s work.
The greatest honour we can give to anyone is to do whatever that person desires. There is therefore only one supreme way to give God the highest honour—that is to obey Him. The work that the Lord had set before Saul was to kill every living person and animal in Amalek. But Saul did more: Note how he did not do less than what he was told but more. He killed all the people but allowed the best cattle and sheep to remain untouched and prepared them for a sacrifice unto the Lord. He did more, yet this “extra mile” that he undertook was rejected and he was even reprimanded because of that. While he was acting out on this self-derived initiative, Saul probably thought he was doing a good thing, but now when we read of that account, we are able to recognise it as a false work that the devil had deceived him into doing—a work that actually brought him reproach instead of reward. Likewise, we are not to be careless in these things, but to always be cautious that we obey accordingly, lest we also end up being a labourer of false works that will reap no good reward.
In this current move of restoring the church, not just people are needed for the work, but much finance is also needed to carry out the plans and visions that have been given to the body of Christ. If we are not careful, we may end up channeling these resources to false works instead of the genuine work of the Lord. How then, to be sure that we are not frustrating the plans of God by taking up false works? The key lies in withdrawing. Yes, we need to learn how to withdraw in order to advance. We need to take one step back occasionally from our works to re-examine our works and wait upon the Lord. We can rest assured that there is no time lost in waiting when we wait upon the Lord (Isa. 28:16). Not one of us can walk the spiritual path based on our natural wisdom or reasoning. This is because the divine God will always be beyond human comprehension and reasoning. For this reason, let us always be ready to forsake our ways in exchange for the higher ways of God.
Christ Our Foundation
Every person in the Lord’s ministry will have to answer an important question very consciously: What is the foundation that we are building upon? Paul specifically reminds us: “Let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:10-11). Church-centered activities, Christian meetings, outreach programs and community projects alone do not in itself constitute a true God-sanctioned foundation of a spiritual work no matter the efforts expended and successes reaped. Such outreaches are necessary, to be sure, and thank God for all the great harvest that have been brought in because of these projects; but they are not meant to be the ground on which any church or ministry can base its growth on. Activities they are, and activities they shall remain, regardless of how effective they have proven to be. Only Jesus alone is the rock on which every church, ministry and body of believers must be founded. We can’t adopt another’s success in ministry as our model and expect the same results from our similar labour. It just doesn’t work that way.
Because every area of harvest is special to the Lord, His word or messages to different groups will be special and unique . When John the disciple received revelation on Patmos, God had separate messages for each of the seven churches existing in Asia Minor. Though situated in the same region and in the same era, the churches had a different message each.
Every one and every body of believers are special as far as God is concerned. It is easy to foresee the kind of knotty situations that we may get into when we try to follow after every pattern of success. When presented with different models of success, for example, which model do we adopt? For this reason, we need a constant. Christ is that constant that we need, and Him alone do we follow. Think about the three prominent heroes of faith Peter, John and Paul. Jesus appointed Peter to win thousands after thousands for Him, putting him out at the public front. However, he destined John for a solitary life on the island of Patmos, and sent Paul away from His chosen race to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. All three men, as they turned out, were great men in the Bible, but all three led very different lives. Whose example then are we to take after? Do we seize at every opportunity to preach the gospel like Peter the evangelist? Do we spend hours after hours and days after days waiting in solitude for a revelation like John? Or do we run from nation to nation preaching from continent to continent like Paul did? Or if we cannot decide, do we then try to do everything that these apostles had done? No. It was never meant to be. Peter, John and Paul were all great men of God, but they should never be our perfect role models. We were never called to model our lives after any other person except our Lord Jesus. If we faithfully follow the Lord Jesus, then we need not worry about whether God is pleased with what we are doing or becoming, for He will make us the person He wants us to be. Even if He calls us to spend our days sitting by His feet and listening to His heartbeat, then that is what we must do. For instance, there was Anna the prophetess who “did not depart from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers night and day” (Lk. 2:37). People around may begin to wonder aloud about your perceived “idleness,” but in God’s eyes, your faithfulness to obey and trust means far more than any amount of labour you can sow into His work. Most people find themselves more concerned over the development in God’s work than that of their relationship with Him. We need to get the order of things right. Who we are with Him is far more important to God than what we do for Him. If we have an intimate and healthy relationship with the Lord, then there is no fear that we would not do His work. However, it is only too easy for one to get so caught up with doing the Lord’s work that he forgets about God in the process! One can be following the Lord’s ministry all the way and serving dutifully at all times yet whose heart is not with the Lord. Judas Iscariot was one such person. He went everywhere with Jesus and the other disciples. He was even the treasurer of the group. However, it was not anyone from the hostile and unresponsive multitude who betrayed the Lord Jesus but Judas himself. This goes to show that our involvement in the Lord’s ministry is not a guarantee of our relationship with Him. It is dangerously possible that our hearts can grow cold towards the Lord in whose ministry we partake of every day.
There are many of us who pray for great signs and wonders to happen, and there are even more who hope and pray for miracles. However, there are not many who would seek God for the greatest miracle—that is, a life transformed into one that is pleasing to the Father. It is quite understandable why most of us find ourselves to be so. This is because we live in a result-oriented world where almost every person is driven to perform and deliver results. As a consequence, we end up more familiar with being a servant of God than a child of God. This phenomenon is dangerous because though a father may rely heavily on his servants to run his errands, there are however certain things which he would withhold from them and entrust only his sons to handle those things. This is because he would not expect the servants to fathom his heart as well as his own children would. And we can be sure that this one thing that the Father reserves for his children to do will weigh much more in glory and honour than all the tasks that the servants have done for him! Let the devil not deceive us in this. God has a special ministry reserved for those whose hearts are after His own and who has put on the mind of Christ so that his mind is renewed to know the heart of God. We believe that a great flow of power is going to be released upon the church that will bring healing and miracles into our midst. Recipients of this ministry will experience the power of God so tangibly that they will be identified by the love, compassion and mercy of Christ. It will be a most glorious ministry indeed, and the central conveyance of this move will be Christ-likeness. God is not going to hand such a precious ministry to just anyone but will choose the ones whose lives have the life of God wrought in them. These will be people who have yielded themselves wholly to the Lord in obedience and trust. Having entirely given of themselves to the will of God, these people will be able to receive His will with undivided hearts. They will be carriers of this mighty move of the Holy Spirit into the church and will be co-labourers with God in bringing His will to pass.
Christ In Us
How deeply ingrained in us is the desire for the praise and glory of men. Only after much dealing and learning from the Lord can it be removed from the marrow of our soul. May we ask God for mercy that we may be delivered from the enticement of the glory of man. God’s desire is that men should be like Him, glorified and conformed to the image of His Son (Eph. 1:4-5; Rom. 8:29-30). For this reason, He started by creating us in His own image (Gen. 1:27).
Think about the spiritual stature of the apostle Paul. Once when he was consulted on a spiritual issue, he made this statement: “I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment.” Why when the Lord had not spoken Paul could speak a word of authority? It is because as he later said, “I think I also have the Spirit of God.” This is the degree of intimacy between the apostle and God! Paul had so yielded himself to God whose life was so wrought in him that he identified with even the Divine Spirit, and he knew Him. Paul knew the ways of God, even His heartbeat; that was why he could pass a judgment and have his listeners receive it as a directive from the Lord. Shouldn’t this also be the standard for all of us as God’s beloved children? In all our pursuits of knowing God, this is the intimacy that a disciple can reach with Him. Where God is concerned, there might perhaps be something even greater and spectacular than this; but let us start by first positioning ourselves to grow towards the stage of fellowship which Paul had with God. Allow Him to so weave His life and ways into us that our being becomes knitted into His being, that what we do, say, and be may run parallel with God’s Spirit.
In his letter to the Galatian church, Paul said that the gospel he preached was given to him by divine revelation. In his words, he yielded himself to God to let God work in Him “to reveal His Son in (him)” (Gal. 1:12, 15-16). Paul ran to the pulpit straight after he had the supernatural encounter with the Lord Jesus. There, he learned a lesson and subsequently retreated to the Lord’s bosom to let Christ be formed in him first. Then, with Christ within, Paul knew that he could preach Christ without. Paul preached whatever he had. Thus, inasmuch as he had known Christ, he preached Christ. The same goes for us. It is not possible for us to preach what we do not know or to minister and give what we do not have. Our responsibility is to co-operate with God. We were not really meant to work for Him, so to speak, but rather to work with Him. For unless the Lord builds, we labour in vain (Psa. 127:1). Even when we do our best for God we can still sometimes end up frustrating His purpose . If we focus only on doing what we think makes up God’s work and neglect seeking His will, we are not only unable to give an acceptable account of ourselves to God but, worse, we may even end up bearing a reproach for our presumptuousness. It’s just like how Jesus rebuked Peter. Even though his thought of wanting his Lord to be safe from harm was perfectly genuine and innocent, it was however an error in that it threatened the fulfillment of the divine plan. Our thoughts, plans and motives, if not examined in the light of God’s purpose, may end up stalling instead of progressing His work.
The Will Of God
A group of people once sought the Lord, asking, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?” (Jn. 6:28). Indeed a question that reflects the zeal they had for God. However, the Bible does not list “zeal” as one of either the gifts or fruit of the Holy Spirit. Contrastingly, zeal that is a result of fleshly ambitions actually produces fruit that will draw a person away from enjoying his relationship with the Lord towards an immersion in religious activities. Paul warned of such a condition where people “have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10:2). When we rely on zeal to drive us in doing the work of God, we are forfeiting His grace that will enable and equip us for the same purpose. Also, we are giving up the space for an enjoyable relationship with Him. Plagued with a constant drive for work, no one could really explore and enjoy other aspects of relationship with another person, could he?
In response to the people’s offer of serving Him, Jesus answered, “This is the work of God”, “that you believe on Him whom He hath sent” (Jn. 6:29). The people were more than ready to serve the Lord, and they were eager to know what they could do for Jesus. However, Jesus had something else in mind. Instead of telling them they could do something for Him, He told them to simply believe on Him. Why “believe”? On another occasion when the word “believe” is used in the Bible, it has the meaning of “receive” (John 1:12). We all know that John was talking about receiving the Lord Jesus into our lives before He calls us His children. Likewise, before we can do anything for God, we have to first receive from Him. We need to receive His divine wisdom in exchange for our conventional wisdom, His perfect ways for our imperfect ones, and His power for our weaknesses. Without this, all that we can offer would be what any other diligent and determined person can offer, no more! In order to go beyond the ordinary service to render a work and service that delights the Lord, we have to lay aside our plans and be ready to trust and believe Him for His plans. Only then will we be able to see the “greater works” being done in our midst that we are destined for. The reason why these “greater works” flow from us is because Christ works in us to bring about these things. Therefore, without first allowing Him to work in us and later through us, we will be striving all our lives only to deliver a ministry that is run-of-the-mill, passable but not remarkable. Certainly, the Lord’s will is not for us to settle for such low standards, especially where His work is concerned. His will is to prosper us, for, remember, we are a people set apart for His glory.
For some, the prelude to being used for fulfilling the purposes of God can be years of anonymous servanthood while being led to a place of contentment just in knowing Him and enjoying His presence. And when we think we are just one step away from being put to a task, the Lord continues the testing by allowing us to be passed over while He blesses others in their services unto Him. This is not God making a sport of us, but it is surely one way we learn to be truly happy for others who are getting what we desire, when we aren’t.
Before we decide on anything for the Lord’s ministry, let us remember to first seek His thoughts and will on that matter: “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ…” (1 Pet. 4:11). God never meant for us to work independently of Him. When serving the Lord, we are to do so with reverence. The acceptable way to serving the Lord is through “reverence and godly fear,” says the author of Hebrews (Heb. 12:28-29). Moses paid a heavy price for misrepresenting God in his service (Num. 20:2-3, 7-13). Because of that one mistake, [despite] his countless good works, he was banned from partaking the promises God made to Abraham!
Having said this, let us always remember to always seek to know the Father first before we start on His work. In our walk with God, it is important for us to value and mature the Father and child relationship above our service unto Him. Since He has called us His ambassadors (and we represent Him therefore), let us be sure that we get His intents and purposes correct before we make a public statement before men.
Consider the teachings of Paul. We know him as a man of high moral fibre, whose heart was sold out for God, and who was in our hearts considered one of the most outstanding of the apostles of Christ. So zealous was he and so involved in the work of the Lord that he ministered to almost every corner of the known world in his time. Yet, realise that in all his epistles to the churches, both great and small, Paul wrote to them more on how they could and ought to develop their fellowship with God than he did on how they could contribute to the Lord’s ministry. In his letter to the church in Rome, he gave them the principles of living a victorious Christian life (Rom. 6 – 8), and in his epistle to the Corinth church, he warned about service not accompanied with love (1 Cor. 13). Even his prayer for the people was that they might grow in their spirit man, at the same time maturing in their knowledge of God (Eph. 2; 1:15-23; 3:14-21). When Paul taught on serving God, he reminded the Colossians that they should be “filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” so that they might be “fruitful in every good work” while at the same time still “increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:9-10). Indeed, Paul saw that it was entrusted to him that he should impart and help develop Christ in the lives of the people he was sent to. We know this from his heart’s confession in Gal. 4:19 when he said, “I labour in birth again until Christ is formed in you.”
No doubt zealous servants are treasures in the kingdom of God where the “labourers are few,” but it must also be said that nothing pleases the Father as much as having children who know Him for who He really is. The Lord Jesus spent at least 30 years waiting on the Father God before He took on servanthood for His last 31/2 years. A short time of service unto God no doubt, but regarding His work for God, He was able to say, “It is finished.”
In closing this series on the Call of God, I would like to recount a story someone once shared with me. A lighthouse keeper who worked on a rocky stretch of coastline received his new supply of oil once a month to keep the light burning. The lighthouse not being far from the shore, he had frequent guests. One night a woman from a nearby village begged the keeper for some oil to keep her family warm. Another time a father asked for some to use in his lamp that he might light the path on his way back home. Another needed some to lubricate a wheel of his motorcar. Since all the requests seemed legitimate, the lighthouse keeper tried to please everyone and granted all their requests. Toward the end of the month he noticed the supply of oil was very low. Soon the oil was all gone, and the beacon went out. That night several ships were wrecked and many lives were lost. When the authorities investigated, the man was very repentant. But to all his excuses and pleading their deafening reply was, “You are given oil for one purpose - to keep the light burning !”
Do not sacrifice the best by giving its ration to the good. Like the lighthouse keeper, many a times we use the “oil of God” upon our lives casually, forgetting that we will one day be accountable for it. We all have a plan and a purpose, and how much of the Lord’s work we are effectively doing is really tied to the degree of our obedience. We pray that all of us will take the Call of God in our lives seriously so that we can all live out our fullest potential on this earth according to His divine plan, and, having done that, to receive our crown when we meet the Lord in glory.
