STAYING THE GOSPEL COURSE (PART 2)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance...in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger.

2 Corinthians 6:4, 5b

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Working for the cause of the Gospel isn’t easy but Jesus never promised us it would be. Staying the Gospel course while carrying out His Great Commission calling is very challenging.

To see how this is true, we only need to look at the life of Jesus and His ministry work. Even though he had a hometown, He wasn’t welcome there (Luke 4:16-30). He was constantly on the road traveling from place to place by foot. Given this, He didn’t have a home but rather took up refuge wherever He decided to stop and rest. He was sinless and yet was falsely accused of committing injustices and beaten and executed as a criminal. He faced relentless persecution all the way to the cross.

It wasn’t easy as Jesus stayed the Gospel course and it isn’t going to be easy for any of His disciples either. We only need to look at the Book of Acts to see how first Jesus’ chosen followers and then Paul faced the same level of intense work for the cause of Christ, all while experiencing terrible persecution, false accusations, and threats.

In regard to the intense labor that went into carrying out Jesus’ call, we look at Paul sharing those challenges in our verses for today, the second message in this series. Look again at His words here:

Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance...in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger.  2 Corinthians 6:4, 5b

As Paul and his associates went from one place to another during his missionary journeys, the days were long and hard, whether it was in just trying to travel from one place to another or getting down to business when they were at their destinations, these servants of God, committed to great endurance, worked hard and endured many sleepless nights as they never really got to settle down in one place for a very long period. It’s hard to rest when you aren’t laying your head down in the same place at the same time every day.

It’s also hard to stay nourished properly when you are on the road all the time from point to point. I’m sure there were days when Paul and those who were with him were well fed but I am equally sure there were days on the road when provisions were slim and the missionaries were left hungry.

But on they went because they trusted the Lord would provide. After all, He had promised to be with them as they carried on His work (Matthew 28:20b) and as always, He never broke His promise. Yes, Paul and the others worked hard. Yes, they had sleepless nights and found themselves hungry. Nonetheless, Jesus saw them through just as He does anyone who accepts His call to go and make disciples, leading them to salvation through Him.

Staying the Gospel course is far from easy but we can do all things through our Savior who gives us strength (Philippians 4:13).

Tomorrow, we’ll look at Part 3 in this series.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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