Bible Reading: Gal 4:12-20
Read and pray: "My children, for whom I again suffer birth pains until Christ is formed in you; I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you."
(Gal 4:19, 20)
The elders in all the churches need to go before the Lord to receive a burden and see whether all the home meetings in their city are progressing satisfactorily. We need to pay attention to the condition of the meetings. Are they strong or weak, living or dead, rich or poor? We cannot remain unchanged.
Perhaps those responsible for the home meetings are at peace; however, the elders should not be at peace. The elders must act in a coordinated way, together, and not individually. They must have a collective burden to cause a total transformation in the condition of the home meetings. They need to pray for the saints even with tears and seek the Lord to know the proper words to speak.
Then they must speak in the meetings according to their burden until the saints are disturbed inwardly and no longer satisfied with the current situation.
When the elders speak in this way, they do not speak according to their organization but according to their burden. They must have a burden and not merely have responsibility.
As elders, we should not merely share and talk about the conditions of the different home meetings, visit them, and present evaluation reports at the next elders’ meeting. There is no burden in this practice; it will be ineffective and bring no benefit.
If we have a company with many employees, its annual profit will not be influenced by conversations, reports, and evaluations. That does not fulfill the burden. If we have a true burden, we will set an annual profit goal, work towards achieving it, and be determined to reach it.
Both in the administration of the church and in the ministry of the word, the brothers are commendable regarding their level of responsibility. However, they lack a burden. Without a burden, all our activity will be dead and ineffective; but with a burden, we will be living and prosperous. This result is not related to our method, but to our person.
Serve with a burden allowing the ego to be denied
Children will never succeed in their studies if they study only for tests. If they have a burden, their studies will change. A brother may give a message merely out of obligation, because it is his turn to share. However, giving messages is not a matter of obligation, but of burden.
We may speak for six months in a row, yet those who hear us may not receive anything and our speaking will have been in vain. If we have a burden, we will realize that our messages are ineffective. They must "bother" people so that they have no peace and feel stirred to love and serve the Lord.
In this situation our being will be touched by God. There is no need for our ego to be denied if we give messages out of obligation. However, if we give messages from a burden, our ego needs to be crucified.
Working from nine to six as an employee is a matter of obligation and does not require any adjustment. However, we would work differently if we had our own business. Our laziness would be eliminated because we would have to wake up early for work.
The attitude of a waiter or a store clerk towards customers may not need correction. However, a person who runs their own business adapts so as never to offend clients. Instead of being transformed, some brothers seem to have more problems when serving out of obligation and not out of burden.
If there is a burden, our "self" diminishes and is eliminated. It will not grow because there are things our burden does not allow us to do, and there are areas that will demand discipline before sharing our burden. For this reason, having a burden is what brings us the most transformation.
A young man who does not have the burden of taking care of a family may not care about the way he lives. However, after getting married and having children, he will know what it means to be diligent and disciplined. A son may spend his parents' money freely, without any self-control. However, when he grows up and lives on his own, his spending will be planned. He will be more careful when shopping.
Spending parents' money is one thing; spending his own money is a burden. It seems that the brothers in the churches serve out of obligation, like employees. They do not seem to have much burden. Such a service is dangerous and will lead us to lose the Lord's presence.
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