Dec 31, 2021
Hey, it's Mike Henry with Follower of One. Welcome back to the Follower of One podcast. If you're hearing this on air date, it's New Year's Eve. It's the last day of 2021, but I want to continue speaking through this history of Follower of One and how some of our ideas came about. We've been talking in this series and I'll make a couple of references to previous posts.
As I had said before, I didn't want to be in the freight business. I wanted to be a full-time Christian, but I was around people. I didn't like most of the day. I spent a lot of time whining to God about work, about my boss, who was my dad, and about the things I had to do. I didn't like my job. I felt like I was the only believer in the business and I was miserable.
I continued to ask Jesus to put me "into ministry" and I use quotes around that. Over the years. I heard people talk about how they were called into full-time ministry. I felt like a part-timer. Did God really only call me to ride the bench? Did God call me to do ministry on the sidelines? Even today? When you look at websites of people who are in Christian ministry, almost every website.
Of an organization shows the leader standing in front of a crowd speaking, or wearing a microphone or behind a podium. Just looking at the website you would think that faith in Jesus Christ is something that we do from a stage. Or it's something that we do in a crowd with hundreds of other people who are singing and waving their hands and enjoying Jesus together.
We always look happy. Ministry is something done in a church building. We "go to" church and I put air quotes around that as well. But the more I prayed for the people that I work with. And the more that I struggled with this challenge, that ministry is service, the more I realized that God was changing my heart a little bit. I became interested in the people that I worked with.
Some of my interests was even genuine. I want to say that almost jokingly. Over a period of time, I came to realize that part of my job as a believer was to appreciate other people. I realized my treasure was changing. I had read Matthew 6 21, which says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." I thought like many people that I would put my money and time and energy where my heart was, but I learned that maybe it's the other way around.
I ended up leaving the freight business a couple of times, but I began to learn to appreciate people who are not like me. And I believe that's part of what Jesus calls us to. As I wanted to do this full-time ministry, I've never been much of a half-way guy. I want to be going all out. I prefer to be either going all out or be passed out.
If we're not going to do something all the way, then let's not do it at all. But trying to blend my faith in my work would take years. Early in my faith journey. I had to learn that faith is really in control and it's taken a long time.
God gives us the ability to appreciate. When we invest our time, money, attention, and energy into something, our heart will follow.
Often we want to put our time, money, attention, and energy into something we're interested in. It seems easier that way, but it's also easier to get separated from God. Today I want to challenge us. Let's ask God to give us the gift of appreciation for the people that we work with.
We interact with them every day. Jesus wants to put us to work in their lives. Our heart can follow our treasure, not the other way around. Our most valuable resource, our time is being invested with a group of people because we need to do that to make a living.
The people that we're around every day, they are our ministry. We don't have to go somewhere else. Let's ask God to give us a heart for them so that our time money, attention, and energy are pointed at the people that he would have us appreciate and serve. The people that were around today are our ministry. Let's ask God and he will give us a heart for them.
At Follower of One we want to help you with that. Take our next Marketplace Mission Trip and see what we're talking about. Go to https://community.followerofone.org and log in. And there you will get invited to join the next Marketplace Mission Trip. You have nothing to lose.
It takes just five minutes a day. We will challenge you to see the people that you interact with on a daily basis as your ministry and your mission field. And I guarantee you, you will find joy, life and treasure in your relationships.
Head over to https://followerofone.org and check it out. Thanks very much.