2 Cor. 6:1-10
1 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For He says:[a]
“ In an acceptable time I have heard you,
And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
3 We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. 4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, 5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; 6 by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, 7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
We are workers…but not just workers…workers with Him. To me this is probably one of the most powerful 2 words of scripture. He’s not a king that rules over, but He’s a King that draws us in and up. The implication of this is that God desires us to be involved with what He is doing in the world in all His glory and grandeur. This is not because he needs our help and can’t do it without us (everything about who God is contradicts that) but He does it that way because we need it. We need the interaction, we need the in your face touch with the miracles God performs on a daily basis to even get a glimpse of who God really is. What a privilege!
The rest of this passage draws out the opportunities for us to do just this. From God’s perspective, it’s not a “sometimes” interaction of our faith with God, it’s an all the time living and breathing faith that should take us through every experience, emotion or environment. Faith is not something that should be parked on a shelf waiting for the right time to pull it out. In fact, by the looks of the majority of the references in this package, the times that we probably would want to park our faith is exactly the time it should be pulled out and put into practice.
What a blessing it is that God acknowledges these areas & times of our lives and leaves nothing to chance or excludes anything out of his sight. I feel honored that God would desire to be part of all these things, but I also feel convicted that I have excluded Him from so many. I am a full time minister of God…now I just need to act that way.
~chefdave
Sixty-six books in a year 