Well, if it’s not work life, it is personal life. Today was a day we needed to address a family issue within our home and that discussion ended up causing us to cancel a dinner with my cousin and his family that I was very much looking forward to. Lots of prayer covered what transpired and I am confident in the Lord that He is in control and as long as we are following Him and asking for His wisdom, I can trust that we will receive what we need, and He will see His will and purposes out in our lives and the lives of our family.
5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:5-6 [ESV]
I love this statement by Paul that what he and his posse have set out to do is not promote themselves but to promote Jesus Christ as Lord. In doing so they also position themselves as servants for the sake of the One they call King. Paul says he regards himself as the servant of those to whom he preaches. But this must not be misunderstood to mean that they are his masters. Paul acknowledges only one Lord, and it is in obedience to him that he serves humanity.
I really appreciate how Paul talks about how God has shown in his heart the light. I am going to directly quote something I read out of the Tyndale commentary on verse 6 -> “this [verse] appears to recall Genesis 1:3 (‘And God said, “Let there be light” ’), and if this is the case then Paul likens the revelation of the glory of God in Christ to the creative act of God whereby the darkness of the primeval world was banished by the light. Thus, the darkness of ignorance in which people are held by the god of this world is banished when, by a new creative act, God shines into their hearts the light of the gospel; an illumination which reveals the true nature of Christ as the one in whose face the glory of God is seen. Paul’s own conversion may well have prompted him to think in this way.” Isn’t that awesome?!?
Application:
I must consistently remember that Christ alone is the point and purpose of my life now. I was obedient in Baptism and in that act, I publicly stated that I had died with Christ and rose out of the water to walk a new life with Jesus as the object of that life. It is in that obedience that I must serve others; in serving others, I am serving Christ.