Focus: 1 Corinthians 4:10-12 - KJV
10. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. 11. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; 12. And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
1 Corinthians 10:23-24
In the ministry of reconciliation handed down by Christ to the believer, the minister is expected to be a fool for Christ’s sake. He is a shepherd in the similitude of Christ and must endure all things for the sake of the sheep; not because he is stupid, but so as to fulfil his ministry in Christ, he must allow some things to pass just to win the flock. For instance, he must know how to abase and how to abound such that he is able to do all things through Christ that strengthens him.
Many are the afflictions of the minister, but he keeps them under, bears them alone just so that the sheep may remain strong and healthy in the body. When the minister is going through pressure, the flock are the last to know. Even when he is unable to provide for his family, and a convert shows up with hunger pangs, he looks for a way to care for the convert first, at his own expense. That is the calling of the minister. Unfortunately, even in that ‘foolishness’, many sheep assume the minister is the most elated.
The Lord wants every minister to stay with laying down his life because all those who lose their lives for His sake would find it. Yet, He wants the flock to be mindful of how they treat their shepherds because, even though they appear as fools for Christ’s sake, they are not so foolish after all. Elijah had no reason to be foolish and so he called fire down to devour those whom he saw as dissidents. Since our shepherds are fools that we may be wise, let us take time to bless them in prayers and materially also.
Please pray:
Father, I thank you for anointing me to be your minister unto many at this time of life. Please let your oil that makes me a fool for Christ’s sake and strengthens me to do all things, never run dry. Let nothing move me into becoming full of myself rather than considering the things of others, in Jesus’ name. And for everyone who is also called into ministry to be fools for Christ’s sake, I pray that you please strengthen them that the weight may not be too much for them to bear, in Jesus’ name. Let this day be a day of great succor for every minister of reconciliation, in Jesus’ name.
Please share with others. God bless you.
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