United for His Glory

 

 

Gordon Robertson – President and CEO, CBN

God makes an astounding pronouncement in Isaiah 41:5:

“Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge.” (NKJV)

When I read this, the image that immediately came to mind was of a giant harvester—a huge machine that swiftly threshes entire fields of wheat.

God has called us as His followers to serve together as a massive harvester going throughout the whole earth, gathering millions of souls for His kingdom.

At the same time, we are to be mindful of the value of each individual. In 1994, when Jesus appeared to me at the Godavari River in India, He called me by name and said: “Gordon, if you were the only one to believe, I still would have come just for you.”

That same message is also for you. Jesus would have come if you had been the only one. And when you really understand this, it changes you. It has definitely changed me.

Jesus gives us this beautiful picture in Luke 15:4-6:

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’”

Never forget that He went looking for you. And every life is a thought from God. The Apostle Paul says:

He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. … For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 1:4, 2:10)

How amazing to think that God tailored events in history so that you and I would participate in this time of global harvest.

There are different styles of ministry, just as there were differences between Paul and Apollos in the New Testament. Yet Paul instructs us to be united in our labor for the Lord:

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building (1 Corinthians 3:6-9)

This passage is wonderfully empowering and equalizing. We are all in this together. I’ve always marveled that God chose us as His fellow workers—because if I were God, I wouldn’t have. I would have chosen angels who do exactly what they’re told. They don’t argue or complain. They just obey.

Yet God has chosen us. And the amazing thing is that God believes we can do it. He has faith in us. He trusts us with the Gospel. He trusts us with the eternal destiny of other people, because they are God’s field and His building.

Sometimes we may be tempted to run away from our destiny. The task may seem overwhelming, or the things of this world may be distracting. Yet when we understand that God has nothing but good in store for us, it becomes easy to go all in and say, “Okay, God; I’ll do it your way.”

When a student asked me how to move forward with God in a certain situation, I replied, “Well, have you died today?” We all need to die daily as we do the ministry of the Lord.

Jesus tells us in Luke 9:23-24:

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”

We should regularly ask ourselves, Is my life surrendered or have I taken it up again? As Hudson Taylor said, “Christ is either Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all.”

We may be tempted to take a break from following the teachings of Jesus; however, that can cause us to miss out on what God has for us today. His thoughts are not limited to this particular moment in time. He is always thinking about eternity. We don’t want to miss any divine appointments, when the lost would turn if they could see Jesus in us in that moment.

That’s why it is important to check our motivations. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to examine our aspirations and the inner longings of our hearts. Why do we want certain things? Are they of the world or the kingdom of God? Are we working to be recognized, out of personal pride? The Bible is very clear.