A Reason for Ministry

Galatians 6:9, Part Two: “…for in due season we shall reap…”

I have a need to be motivated by a vision. No aim in life leads to a listless existence. And the best aims in life are those which we are most passionate about. All labor is for the sake of something significant. Working for a paycheck can be motivating if my financial aspirations will be moved forward in receiving it. But working will be much more engaging for me if the work itself is accomplishing something I believe in. What, then, is the motivation for not ceasing to do the good works which we have been entrusted with doing? Here we are told that it is a season of harvest.

Think with me about the analogy of sowing, watering, waiting and finally harvesting. The goal–the telos–of every other activity is realized in the harvest. Jesus’s parable of the soils gauges the life of that which is sown in terms of harvest. Our willingness to invest in people is completely necessary. Would I still give if I knew that nobody would be transformed? I would, if I have the heart of God.

The vision that motivates me is of ministering to the lives of some who respond to the kindness of God by coming to repentance. As God’s grace dawns upon their hearts and the sacrifice of Jesus takes over the center of their joys, moving them to become worshipers of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light… I would be satisfied with my labor. So I am called to perseverance through all the seasons of labor, knowing that the harvest is sure.