Is God Calling Me Into Full-Time Ministry? - 7 Questions to ConsiderSample

Day 7: How can I best serve God and those around me today?

“But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” — Mark 4:20

Rather than asking, “Is God calling me into full-time ministry?”, perhaps the better question is, “How can I best serve God and those around me today?” Put another way, how can you best “love God, love people” (Matthew 22:34-40)? We’ve talked about serving in the church. Now let’s talk about serving in general. At its root, the word “ministry” means “service.” If our whole life belongs to God, our work is for God’s glory, and the workplace is a place of ministry and service to Christ.

In general, every job, every position, contributes to the work God is doing in this world. Consider the parable of the sower and the seeds (Mark 4:1-20). The idea is to be a fruitful follower of Jesus as you are carrying out Kingdom purposes. Don’t settle for “thirtyfold” if He wants to use you to produce “sixtyfold,” and don’t settle for “sixtyfold” if “a hundredfold” is God’s will for you! Paul was best used of God one day making tents (Acts 18:1-4); he was best used of God at other times being led by the Spirit on missionary journeys. Paul had the “faithful for the day” perspective; so should we. 

Today’s Prayer:

Father, yesterday is in the past and tomorrow is in the future; help me to be faithful for today! I see this in the apostle Paul’s life. His life is an example of how my work can be a place of service as well. I see this in the lives of fruitful followers of Jesus in my own life. Help me to live in light of Paul’s enduring words to the believers in Colossae: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24).

We would like to thank Dean Ridings, representative of The Navigators, for this reading plan. For more information on helping people “To know Christ, make Him known, and help others do the same®," visit The Navigators. Scripture quotes are from the ESV unless otherwise noted.