Spreading God's Work

I received a thank you note from a high school student I sponsored for summer missions. The final line was “I look forward to spreading God’s work.” I laughed thinking she means spreading God’s Word, but after thinking about it, maybe she’s right.

"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."--John 6:29

How to spread God's word is a question that can be difficult sometimes if we don't have the true understanding of how we as Christians should go about it. Keep in mind what Paul said, "I will not ...speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me." Paul didn't place glory in what Christ had done for him, but in what Christ was doing through him.

Matthew 17:2-3 tells the story of the day that Jesus took his disciples to the top of the mountain where he was transfigured before them: "His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him." Peter was so caught up in this spectacular event that he wanted them all to stay there. In verse 4 of the same chapter he says "Lord it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

As you read further into the chapter, you can see that Jesus thought it more important to continue ministering and spreading His Word. Verse 14 begins the story of the demon possessed boy who suffered severe seizures that Jesus healed. The message we can take from this story is that there are definitely rewarding experiences when following Jesus' teachings but you'll never reap those rewards if you don't put the work in and focus on the goal at hand, which is spreading the Word of God to everyone.

Now we all know, as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ that it is a great thing to have such a spectacular experience with our God and Father; but we also know that as followers of our Lord we can't stay there. We have a lot of work to do if we are going to follow in his footsteps, and we as Christians have been called to do it.