A Good Life Verse

Do you have a life verse? Some people are quick to point out a favorite verse, but what about a life mission verse—something you are aiming for?

Paul wrote a good one that any of us can share, and God would be happy if we did. It might even be one He would pick out for us. Here it is:

Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. (1Cor. 4:1-2)

Paul wrote the verse stating his life mission—to be a minister of Christ—a steward of the mysteries of God. His mission wasn’t to be happy, comfy and fulfilled. He wasn’t focused on following his favorite sports team or TV program, raising a sane family and being a leader in his church.

His mission involved the intangible mysteries of God…things the average Christian gives little thought to, and the unsaved person doesn’t even realize exists. Paul’s mission was difficult!

What does it mean to be a steward of the mysteries of God? We need to know, because it would be a good idea to align ourselves with the same mission. It’s what will really matter in the end.

A steward is a manager or superintendent to whom the head of the house or the proprietor has entrusted the management of his affairs. That’s us. We’re left on this earth as managers of His affairs since He left and before He comes back. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.

The mysteries of God are the gospel. Jesus was God in the flesh, came down to live that perfect, righteous life that we didn’t, died to take the penalty for our sins, rose again the third day and now sits in heaven as the head of the body of Christ. We who have understood and accepted that mystery are born again to serve Him as part of that body. And we are stewards of this message.

Are we passing or failing at stewarding this spiritual message? I will assume that most of us have not focused on this as adequately as we will wish we had when we see the Master who left us in charge of the message while He was away.

How do we turn around and become better stewards of the mystery of God? Here are a few things I can think of

• Post the above mission passage somewhere and try to memorize it to help you focus on “the main thing.”
• Be like Paul and not only pray and ask God to open a door to share that mystery, but ask others to pray the same thing for you, vice versa. In 2 book of the Bible, Eph. 6:29 and Col 4:3, Paul asked others to pray for him that God would open a door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ. This is so important, because the mysteries won’t be shared or understood without the power of God activated through prayer.
• Look and pray to find a faithful Timothy you can invest the mysteries in, who will invest in others also, so the mystery sharing can multiply. (And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 2 Tim. 2:2.)

Otherwise, as we all know, if we aim for nothing, we will hit nothing.

Jody