Volunteering not Work

for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

If I can believe in have faith, God can do it.

Lexicon :: Strong’s G4102 – pistis conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it. In relating to Christ it denotes a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God.

Faith in what Jesus already did, that is my part. His grace sent Jesus to pay the price I couldn’t pay to save me. It was God’s gift. My role is to receive it. What an amazing God I serve.

Satan boasted, he thought his work as an angel was “all that”. God did not want us to be tempted to go down that similar path. So He provided a complete gift, Jesus and let’s our choice be to receive the gift or not. Works cannot save me. Works flow out of what God already did for me. They are my response back to Him.

God already paid for everything, my work for Him is not payment for anything. It is a volunteer opportunity because I believe in the kingdom cause. I want to encourage others to be part. I think about how people compete for a job. There are only so many positions in a company or at least funds for those positions. As a volunteer there is generally a job description, but most places will find something for a volunteer to do. People will come to volunteer because they are passionate about the cause, or someone has convinced them to come along and work beside them who is passionate about the cause. Most people who volunteer find they feel rewarded for the opportunity.

It is the same way in God’s kingdom. We pour our work into the kingdom and we find how blessed we are in the opportunity. He has something for every single person to do. Our blessings are so much greater than just salvation. We are blessed to be able to spread the kingdom.

Lord thank You for the gift of salvation and the blessing of being able to serve You. Show me, open my eyes to see the opportunities You placed before me to serve. I want my life to honor You as I am passionate about You!