Daily EncouragementSample

“Christ came not to be ministered but to minister, and our first duty therefore is to be ministered to by him,” is the telling comment of P. T. Forsyth.

The gracious emphasis of Scripture is on his ministry to us. All the analogies used to describe God - Father, Shepherd, Helper and Keeper, Husband and Lover - emphasize his grace towards us. The same is true as we contemplate the ministry of our great High Priest and the work of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. It is the very heart of the gospel - he gave his life for us.

The experience of Christians down the ages bears witness. “Great saints,” it has been said “are only great receivers.” They know what it is to be ministered to. “At the very time when I was beginning to give up in despair, God gave me tokens of His presence,” wrote [Robert] Murray McCheyne. “I am too weak to pray,” said Harold St. John in his last illness. “I am too tired to love Him much, but I am just lying here, letting him love me.”

What a wonderful source of encouragement! How shall we respond? We should let our service be the outcome of his ministry to us. Then we shall be free to live and serve in the sunshine!