WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
FEBRUARY 26, 2024
TOPIC: PREPARING GOD’S PEOPLE FOR CHRISTIAN SERVICE
BY T. O. BANSO
“It was he who ‘gave gifts to people’; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers. He did this to prepare all God’s people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12 Good News Translation).
In fulfilment of her vow to God when she prayed for a child, Hannah, after weaning Samuel, brought him to Shiloh and presented him before the Lord to live there always.
1 Samuel 1:24-28 says, “After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, ‘Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.’ And he worshiped the Lord there” (New International Version).
This was the beginning of the preparation of Samuel for service as a servant of God. 1 Samuel 2:11b says “The boy ministered before the Lord under Eli the priest” (New International Version). Samuel learnt ministry under Eli. 1 Samuel 3:1a also says, “The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli” (New International Version). Eli prepared Samuel for ministry.
1 Samuel 3:7 says, “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him” (New International Version). That was why when the Lord called him three times, he didn’t know it wasn’t Eli but the Lord until Eli told him, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening’” (verse 9 New International Version).
He did as Eli said and the Lord revealed to Him what He wanted to do to Eli and his family. Samuel later became a great prophet of God. “The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord” (verses 19-20 New International Version). Samuel was prepared for service or ministry under Eli.
There is always a time for preparation for Christian service. The plan of Jesus for the church is not only to have people give their lives to Him and continue to sit in a building, being continually fed with the Word of God, and singing and dancing, but to take up responsibilities. He doesn’t want idle Christians, sitting under the leadership of some anointed men. Jesus planned that people are saved and they serve. He has given the gifts (men) to the church to prepare those who are saved for Christian service.
The Bible says that after Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave a variety of ministry gifts to the church or the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13 says, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (New King James Version). The church needs all the ministry gifts to perform different functions in the body of Christ.
However, the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers Jesus gave to the body of Christ cannot do all the work in the Kingdom alone, but their responsibility is to prepare believers for the work of ministry or Christian service to build up the body of Christ until they all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
The Good News Translation renders Ephesians 4:11-12 thus: “ It was he who ‘gave gifts to people’; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers. He did this to prepare all God’s people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ.” Note the phrase “to prepare all God’s people for the work of Christian service.”
The apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers alone cannot do the work of the Kingdom; they are to prepare or equip other believers for Christian service. All believers are called to be ministers, not necessarily being ordained as apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers. Ministry simply means service, and there are several ways and opportunities to serve in the body of Christ. Believers don’t need ecclesiastical titles to perform Christian service. No child of God should be idle. No believer should be comfortable sitting down in church every Sunday or at every mid-week service being ministered to without also serving others one way or the other. We serve God by serving people.
Every believer’s service is needed to get the job of the Kingdom done. The body of Christ needs Christians to be effective workers. As Jesus said to His disciples, the harvest indeed is plentiful, but the workers are few (Matthew 9:37; Luke 10:2). More workers are needed, and they must be prepared or equipped to take their place. All believers should be prepared to become Kingdom workers by participating in the great commission to win souls and disciple, baptize, and teach those who believe in Him (Matthew 28:19-20). In addition, they should use the spiritual gifts God has given them and their talents and abilities to serve in other areas.
Romans 12:6-8, in the New Living Translation, says, “ In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”
Every Christian should use his spiritual gift to serve in the Kingdom of God and not just enjoy the service or ministry of others. If others are idle like they are, their ministry will not be available for them to enjoy. “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:10-11 New King James Version).
Every believer can be involved in Christian service if he settles down in church to be prepared for service, makes himself available, and uses the gifts God has given him. God will reward faithful service everyone renders in the Kingdom. The apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers should prepare the people of God for Christian service thus increasing the number of ministers or workers in the Kingdom of God. This is to continue until all believers are united in their faith and knowledge about God’s Son, become mature, and measure up to Christ, who is the standard.
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner, and you cannot save yourself, and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner, and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINTS: Holy Spirit, help all the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers whom Jesus has given to the church to effectively perform their responsibility of preparing God’s people for Christian service. O Lord of the harvest, send out workers into Your harvest field. Holy Spirit, touch the hearts of all idle believers to make themselves available to be prepared for the work of ministry.
(For over 900 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org
