{"id":18530,"date":"2021-10-03T16:21:13","date_gmt":"2021-10-03T20:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christskingdom.org\/staging\/8402\/?p=18530"},"modified":"2026-06-09T16:42:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T20:42:59","slug":"working-for-god-while-waiting-for-christ-227","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christskingdom.org\/staging\/8402\/working-for-god-while-waiting-for-christ-227\/","title":{"rendered":"Working for God While Waiting for Christ (227)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Working for God While Waiting for Christ<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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By Steven J. Hogan<\/p>

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~ A Saturday Morning Post #227 ~

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\u201cYou shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only\u201d <\/em>(Matt. 4:10). This verse sums up our eternal purpose as Christians. Worshiping the Lord, loving Him, praising Him, singing to Him – and serving Him, working for Him, obeying Him, fulfilling His plans – this is what we are to do every day of our lives on earth, in heaven, and forever and ever.\u00a0

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I am in my late sixties, and I ask myself, \u201cWhat am I to do?\u201d<\/em> I am to worship and serve the Lord. I look around and see other people focused on food, fortune, fun, and fame (Luke 6:24-26), and I wonder, \u201cWhat am I to do?\u201d<\/em> I am to worship and serve the Lord! I see others my age who are retired and engaged in all kinds of leisure activities (Luke 12:19), and I think, \u201cAnd what am I to do?\u201d<\/em> I am to worship and serve the Lord! I hear of evil things happening around the world and, at times, get worried, distracted, and angry (Psalm 37:1), \u201cBut what am I to do?\u201d<\/em> I am to worship and serve the Lord! And now that we\u2019re living in the end-times, that critically important period of time before the return of Christ to rapture the church, I think, \u201cWhat I am to do?\u201d<\/em> I am to worship and serve the Lord!

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I am convinced God chose me to be holy in His sight, that He called me, justified me, and left me on earth so I can worship and serve Him (Eph. 1:4-5, Phil. 1:21-26). I also know I am not my own, that Jesus Christ bought me with His own blood, and that I am now His slave and servant. This freeing truth means I am not a hell-bound slave of the devil lost in a heathen world doing what is sinful and worthless. Instead, I am a child and servant of God! (Rom. 8:12-17). To have a heavenly Father who dearly loves me, and to be able to love and serve Him during my life on earth is such a wonderful blessing. \u201cNot one of us lives for himself\u2026 for if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord\u2026 therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lords.\u201d<\/em> Romans 14:7-8

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Every Christian must learn what it means to serve the Lord and work for Him. When we talk about work, we usually think of an 8-4, 9-5, or part-time job, but I\u2019m talking about working fulltime, 24-7 for the Lord. Jesus gives a parable illustrating this point, concluding with the statement – \u201cWhen you do all the things which are commanded you, say, \u2018We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done\u2019\u201d <\/em>(Luke 17:7-10). This is instructive on two points. First, we are to work for God all the time<\/span>, every day, every evening, and every week of our life. Second, whatever we do, we are working for God<\/span>, whether it\u2019s making a meal, cleaning house, raising children, praying, shopping, encouraging someone, serving in a ministry, or mowing the lawn. \u201cWhatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men.\u201d<\/em> Colossians 3:23

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Jesus is the best example we have of one who worked fulltime for God. He knew He was God\u2019s Son and also His Slave. \u201cChrist Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave.\u201d<\/em> (Phil. 2:5-6). To His disciples, Jesus said, \u201cI am among you as One who serves\u201d<\/em> (Luke 22:27). To the Jews, Jesus said, \u201cMy Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working\u201d<\/em> (John 5:17). And Jesus worked like no man has ever worked – crisscrossing the nation of Israel, He was continually teaching, healing, praying, meeting needs, and training His disciples.

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Jesus willingly and faithfully worked for and with His Father. He truly loved His Father and really wanted to please Him, and therefore loved to work, doing exactly what His Father asked Him to do. \u201cMy food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work\u201d<\/em> (John 4:24). Jesus was energized both by His Father\u2019s love and by doing the very work His Father wanted Him to do. At the end of His earthly life, Jesus told Him, \u201cI brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do\u201d <\/em>(John 17:4). Jesus was overjoyed that He could work for His Father, thereby fulfilling His earthly mission.

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Jesus\u2019 example and this John 17:4 verse greatly motivate me. And through all the years, God has given me plenty of work to do. Now I have not been a perfect worker, but Paul\u2019s example from Phil. 3:13-14 helps me – \u201cOne thing I do – forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.\u201d<\/em> No matter my age, or what I have done, or what has taken place, or my weakness or sin, I am to say, \u201cI press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus\u201d<\/em> (Phil. 3:12). What a privilege to be able to work for God, to do what He planned for me to do, and trained me to do. \u201cWe are God\u2019s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.\u201d<\/em> Ephesians 2:10

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Now that we are in the end-times, we should be very thankful and excited that we can use our spiritual gifts to serve the Lord, that we can do our part, that we can help build the church and make disciples. We are on the very last leg of this ~2000-year church-age race, and it\u2019s our turn, our time to run for Christ (Heb. 9:27-28, 12:1-3). It won\u2019t be long before we cross the finish line, for in a very little while, we will either physically die or be raptured by Christ. Hebrews 10:37

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These three end-time passages should encourage you in doing God\u2019s work:
* Luke 12:42-43 – \u201cWho is the faithful and sensible slave who His master put in charge of His household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom His master finds so doing when He comes.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Your heavenly Master wants you to faithfully serve those in the church.
* Luke 19:13 – \u201cHe called ten of His slaves and gave them ten minas and said to them, \u2018Do business with this until I come back.\u2019\u201d<\/em> You are to use the gifts God has given you to do the work He wants you to do, right up until the return of His Son.
* 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 – \u201cThey themselves report\u2026 how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven\u2026\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 You are to be serving God while waiting for Christ.

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Might you keep serving your heavenly Father to the very end, and then you will be able to say to Him, \u201cI brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave me to do\u201d<\/em> (John 17:4). And Jesus will say to you, \u201cWell done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your Master.\u201d<\/em> Matthew 25:21

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P.S. The immigration issue is an important one – and how does God want us to think? Here is a post that will help – “Immigration: As It Is, They Desire a Better Country.”<\/a> <\/em>And Covid-19 is important too. In fact. I am just getting over it – thankfully. And what does God want us to think about it? Here are two previous posts: “From the Coronavirus to Christ’s Coming and the Rapture” <\/em><\/a>and<\/em> “The Coronavirus: Fear and Panic, or Faith and Peace.”<\/em> <\/a><\/p>

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