Paid to live

How much are you getting an hour/day/week/month? 10/hour? 10.000 per month? 50.000 p.a.?

I find it funny when i see people work. They give so much effort for it. just think about it about 15 years of our life is spent on studying to get a high paying job!! And after work sometimes you have to do more studying and put more efforts when you're working. this is all for getting a lot of money to pay for the bills/ better house/ better car/ better everything...

but when it comes to God... we often think.. "What's in it for me?"

when we do ministry - often we don't get paid for it, we don't get any awards when we do a good job, we are not appreciated for being extra hardworking/helpful.. and even worse -there's no holidays, paid leave, or sickie in ministry... its a constantly demanding and stressfull job to have - to be in ministry isn;t it?

but.. when we really2 think about this - is ministry really that bad? are we really so ... generous when we do ministry... is God that stingy that He would let His children to do such a mean task...

i mean... when you compare and see the difference between ministry and secular jobs, sometime you think - people who don't know God is more gracious than God's people.. at least secular jobs are fair - they know that you are there only for a certain time , and they won't expect you to do any more than what you signed to do - they give you holidays - they want you to enjoy life - and most of all ------> they PAY YOU MONEY for you to live ...

BUT

is that all there is? Is ministry really that bad? IS the Church really unfair and God so mean to His cchildren?

When you think about it... the "salary" that God gives to us is MUCH MUCH MUCH MOREE than what we can ever earn in our entire lifetime even if we work 24/7~!!

Isn't that why God constantly reminds us that there is nothing that we can do - to buy/gain/earn this thing...

and what is this thing?

it's LIFE itself..

God gave us life when He saved us

God gave us life when He gave His Son to die for us

God gave us life when He chose to forgive our sins by His blood

So the next time ... when you think - why should i serve otherS? Im not getting paid for it? - you should really rethink of what you've just said ... because you are PAID... you are BOUGHT... with a price that you can NEVER work/earn

Whenever i think about our efforts, our due payment in ministry - the Spirit always reminded me of this verse, and i do pray that this verse will be an encouragement for everyone who reads this too :

7“Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

Luke 7:7-10