Friday March 3, 2023
Luke 10:20
“Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you,
but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Here we hear about the Christian’s joy in doing the work of the Lord.
All Christian work is a fruit of joy, of the joy in God which is the precious possession of souls that are saved.
Jesus rejoiced with the seventy when they returned, filled with the joy of accomplishment. Jesus desires happy co-laborers.
Now, we are His co-workers. And we have reason to be happy. We rejoice when we think of the men and women whom the Lord sent out to the mission fields, to whom He gave authority to bring the message of God to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. We rejoice to think of the many here at home who work, sacrifice, pray, and endure hardship in order that the great cause of missions may go forward among our people.
And we rejoice because of all the work that is being done for the salvation of our own beloved people, the self-sacrificing, many-sided, and purposive work which is being done from day to day.
We dare believe also that Jesus rejoices with us.
But it is His desire to give us, as He did His disciples that day, a gentle but earnest admonition: Let not Christian work nor the fruits thereof overshadow the life, the life in God.
For there is a danger that this may take place.
With all of us. Great danger, too. In all Christian work.
Our Word for today also raises two important questions for us to answer:
Are we joyful workers?
Are we happy because we are successful in our work, or do we work because we are happy? If the latter is true, we work with rejoicing whether we succeed in our work or apparently fail. Then we appreciate what Jesus meant when He said: “Freely ye have received; freely give.”
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 