When I was a deacon, my pastor said, “Deacon Yoon, please do me a favor because there’s something to do today at the church.” He asked me to do without asking about my situation since he trusted me to obey whatever he told me to do as long as it was work of the Lord. Sometimes I, as a pastor, also don’t ask someone’s situation for the work of the Lord when it’s urgent. I entrust to them the mission for winning souls which is the greatest work in the world to those who can fulfill the mission knowing about the mind of the Lord, the situation of the church and a pastor’s situation.
People whose priority is the work of the Lord don’t consult their own convenience. God let his One and only Son die on the Cross so that he could save mankind who were doomed to hell due to their sins. We also have to do the work for the Lord to the point of death thinking about the Lord who doesn’t want to let even one soul go to the hell.
I feel very sorry for the Lord because I put my condition, which was weak and tired, first so many times over the work of the Lord when I look back. Every time I hesitated to do the work of the Lord, thinking “Can I do this?", I felt so pathetic. If the Holy Spirit didn’t move my heart to decide to use my life for the work of the Lord no matter how hard and difficult it was, I might have been corrupted already.
When I look at church members who care about their own circumstances, not caring about the Lord’s, I sigh for their behavior thinking “They shouldn’t be ungrateful when they have received grace from God.” God didn’t care about Himself, but let Jesus, His one and only Son die on the Cross. Even Jesus didn’t spare Himself but left His life on the Cross.
If we procrastinate about the work for the Lord and drop the Lord’s work, deny and desert the Lord because of our circumstances, how can we work with the Lord who had mercy on you? The Lord is looking for people whose priority is the Lord’s work, not their own situation. Those whose priority is the Lord’s situation, and don’t care about themselves, can achieve the work of the Lord together with Him.
Pastor Seok-Jeon Yoon
Extracted from Yonsei Newspaper #633
