18 Aug Going to Work with our Heavenly Father
1 Corinthians 12:7 – To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
My mom and dad got married and had me, the first of five kids, at a young age. Like Jesus, my dad was named Joseph and worked a job swinging a hammer to feed his family. My dad worked tirelessly to provide for our family, working long hard hours during the week, and working even more on side jobs during the weekend.
Growing up, I admired my dad’s work ethic driven by his love for our family. When I was a young boy, I can still remember the first time he took me to work with him. Like my dad, I wore jeans, a white tee shirt, and work boots. My mom packed my little lunch box and filled my little thermos just like my dad. I even had a little hard hat and some tools to carry to the truck, determined to be a helpful crewmember to my pops.
On the job, my dad gave me a few simple chores like picking up scraps of wood, and let me drive a few nails, among other things. At the time, I thought I was being a big help to my dad. Looking back, my dad did not bring me to work with him because he needed me, but because he loved me. He could have done the job easily, even more easily, without me. Pops wanted me to see him at work and for us to spend time together to build our relationship.
God is a Father, and you are His child. Doing ministry is simply going to work with your Dad. Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father and your Big Brother, explains ministry this very way repeatedly, especially in the gospel of John:
- John 5:17 – Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
- John 5:36 – “…the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I [Jesus] am doing…”
- John 10:32 – Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father…”
- John 10:38 – “…believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me [Jesus] and I am in the Father.”
- John 14:10–17 – “Do you not believe that I [Jesus] am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
Jesus Christ did His ministry, which was the work the Father assigned to Him by the power of the Holy Spirit and promised that the Father’s work would continue through the rest of His sons and daughters. How is this possible? By being Spirit-filled like Jesus.
Do you see God as your Father? If not, pray that He will help reveal to you His place as your Father and that doing ministry and serving in your church is just going to work with your Heavenly Father.
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