READING: 2 Kings 21, 2 Chronicles 33, Psalm 71, 2 Corinthians 3
I wish I’d kept letters written to me over the years. One of my pastoral heroes, “Brother Jack,” kept most of the letters others wrote to him over many decades of ministry. In fact, he included many of them in his annual journal—and he thus had a running record of his ministry interactions through the years. More important than those letters, though, were the many, many lives changed through Brother Jack’s ministry. In fact, dozens of young men pursued ministry under Jack’s influence.
The Apostle Paul knew likewise that the greatest witness of the authenticity and power of his ministry was not some letter of recommendation; rather, it was the lives changed via his witness. Paul loved them, and their lives illustrated the gospel to others. The Spirit of God writing on human hearts—and the corresponding life change that only God could create—were evidences of God’s blessing on Paul’s ministry.
It occurs to me today that the strongest evidences of God’s blessing on our ministries are not our academic degrees, our books sold, or our sermons preached. No, the very people whom God transforms through us are the best evidence of His work in and through us. They point to Him, though, rather than to us – and we must be okay with that. After all, “our adequacy is from God” (2 Cor 3:5).
PRAYER: “Thank You, Lord, for using us to reach others who witness of You.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Nahum, Psalm 149, 2 Corinthians 4