Grow in Ministry Usefulness (by Taking Up Your Cross)

Save others by snatching them out of the fire.Jude 23Those who can see that they’ve been burned know what the fire can do, and they reach out to others in the flames. That takes courage. You can’t do ministry without being burned. There is no pain-free ministry. There is an old story about an African village. One night there was a fire in a wooden building, and the whole family who was sleeping there died, except for a tiny baby boy. As the fire flared up, a stranger rushed in and carried the child to safety, and then vanished into the night. In the morning, the village elders had to decide what should be done with him. No one knew how the child had escaped, but all felt it would be a privilege to adopt this child whom the gods had smiled on. So, the elders argued with one another about who should adopt the child until a young man stepped forward and insisted that it should be him. When they demanded to know why, he showed them his hands—they were burned. After Jesus died and rose from the dead, He came to some discouraged believers and showed them His hands and His side. Jesus went into the fire for you. He endured the pains of hell for you. All so that you could be snatched like a burning stick from the fire! This Jesus, with scars in His hands, comes to those He has rescued and says, “Take up your cross and follow me.” Take up your share of the pain and cost of ministry in this fallen world.Are you trying to do ministry without being burned? What is keeping you from taking up your cross and following the One who went to the cross and laid down His life for you?