Dec 29, 2021
Hey, it's Mike Henry with Follower of One. And today we're continuing our story from yesterday or from the previous episode. We left off with me trying to figure out how I could go into full-time ministry. Even though we're talking about the very early days of my faith and work journey, this didn't happen in step-by-step order.
Things get kind of mixed up, even in my recollection. But I was very unhappy in the industry where I worked. I was in the trucking business. My friends all worked for banks or other types of firms, but I was stuck in the freight business. I wanted to do what Jesus wanted. I just hoped I would like it more. I came across Matthew 6 33, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you." (NASB)
We were living paycheck to paycheck and I was mis erable.. But I sought Jesus. I wanted the joy and the experience of following him more closely. And I expected I'd find it in "his kingdom," -again, another word that I kind of use the air quotes around. Is his kingdom, the trucking business?
I also came across Colossians 3, verses 23 and 24. "Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord, rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve."
So my effort, I realize now, even though I'm in the freight business, my effort is for Jesus. I work for him. Jesus came to serve. We serve Jesus. I often struggled with wanting to choose who I served. I had to decide that Jesus was my boss. My father was not my boss. And daily I began to ask Jesus what he would have me do. I read about Isaiah saying "Here I am" to God in Isaiah 60. Eventually I did a bit of a study on that passage and realize there are six people in the Bible who all used that phrase, "here I am," when they were called by God. I began to realize that I could punch in and get on the clock with Jesus. I would use the phrase "Here I am," as my time clock and get on the clock and say, "Okay, Jesus, here I am. What do you want me to do today?"
The only thing, keeping me from becoming a full-time minister then is me. It's not my circumstances or my environment or where I worked. It was my own choice, my own decision to punch in and be a full-time minister. I needed to turn my life and make myself someone who reported to Jesus Christ. So "here I am," became my time cock. Each day, I would punch in and ask Jesus to show me what to do.
Also kept looking for ways to serve him. And I must confess I was not terribly consistent, as we've said before, if you worked for me in the past, you know, that this story looks a lot better in the rear view mirror than I lived it. But it's one of the things that I deal with. I even went so far as to memorize Colossians 3:23-24 and Matthew 6:33, but I think I need to re-memorize some of that. Years later, I realized that we see what we look for. I've read a few books about this topic. We train our minds to see a certain color car, because we're either thinking about that car or we bought that car. And then we start to see them everywhere. We didn't see any of them before that.
When I make it my daily goal to do what Jesus wants. I begin to see opportunities to serve him and everything I do. Some of that is the nature of my brain, but some of that is Jesus being actively engaged. Where our heart is, will become our treasure, and where our treasure is, our heart will follow. It works in almost in the circular relationship.
Today. I want to challenge us let's program our minds. Let's begin to talk to Jesus like he's our boss. And let's ask him to give us opportunities to step into our own full-time ministry. I don't believe you'll regret it, if you do this. I experience great joy doing what Jesus wants, even though the next time he prompts me to do something, my initial reaction is to say, "No, I don't want to do that." This verse has become so very true in my life and even now I want to tend to think that working for Jesus and doing what he says is unpleasant. We receive his joy when we punch in and say, "Here I am," and then do what he says.
Also, if God's asking you to do more with your relationship with him, check out our website at https://followeorfone.org and even check out our online community at https://community.followerofone.org.
Having a group of people around us in our sphere of influence, who are pursuing Jesus, is a positive influence. Let the idea of following Jesus consume more of your day. You'll experience more joy, the farther you go following Jesus Christ. Thanks very much.