all this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. [2 corinthians 5:18]
God reconciled us to himself AND gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
God made us right with him so we could fully be with him (reconciled) and now he calls us to tell others they too can be with God (ministry of reconciliation).
this sounds so simple when it is said like this. but, we know the reality of living this out is not so simple. speaking the truth about our need for reconciliation becomes much more complicated when we are sharing this with our parents, our coach, our grown daughter, our neighbor who has finally started to like us, or our boss.
a couple of things to focus our prayers this morning in regards to this ministry of reconciliation we have been given by God.
- rejoice! this is a calling from our King. maybe you and i haven’t thought to celebrate this. but the King of the Universe has called us to his work! he has given us the joy of watching and serving with him as he does the work of reconciling people that he loves to himself. today – let’s celebrate this! rejoice before the Lord.
- pray for a humble servant’s heart. this word “ministry” means service. it was a greek word that spoke of one who was a servant and their task was to serve a master. first and foremost, you and i have been called to serve our King – Jesus. pray for a humble heart to say yes to our King’s call. pray for a humble heart to serve our King who has reconciled us to himself. and, pray for a humble heart to serve others (our parent, coach, daughter, neighbor, boss) with the love and truth of the gospel, for in doing so, we serve our King.
- pray for God to give us his eyes for those we will encounter today. we will probably see many people today. the question is what will you see? will we just see our parent, coach, daughter, neighbor, or boss. or, will we see one in need of reconciliation who needs to taste, see, and hear the truth and love of Jesus.
~ john ryan