The purpose of ministry is to draw people to God

Peace and grace from our Lord, Jesus Christ be multiplied in your life!

I believe the word I share with you in this column strengthens and helps you to continue on your journey to everlasting life. We continued to discuss the importance of ministry as a God’s tool for transformation. We concluded that the purpose of ministry is to draw people to God, because God is the only one who can help, comfort, heal and restore the destiny of people.

When we serve people, we should be careful to see to it that all the good works we do, such as taking care of people, giving words of encouragement, gestures and deeds of love are all done for the purpose of drawing those people closer to Jesus and uniting them with Him, and not to glorify ourselves. You should understand that people’s problems will be solved only when they are united with God. If we really want to help people we should understand that nobody can do it better than our Creator.

I can comfort people to a certain level, but only God really knows the depth of pain in people’s hearts. God knows and also feels the pains of people Himself, because of His unconditional love to the whole mankind. Jesus has already put Himself in our place and tasted death for each of us when died on the cross. He went through much pains, sorrow, treason, injustice, rejections, humiliations, false accusations and many other horrible things so that He could become the only true Helper in our temptations who truly understands what we are going through.

«Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted». (Hebrews 2:17-18).

Jesus is the only Person that knows and understands our human needs. That’s why Jesus can help us better than anybody else. By serving people we share God’s love with them, so that people can encounter that love, experience it and begin to seek the source of that love – to seek our Heavenly Father. We are drawing people’s attention to the One who has poured out that love into our hearts when we serve people and rejoice with them when they are happy and successful. Through ministry we can and should draw people’s attention to the Father God, who has transformed our lives and turned us from selfish creatures into the loving children of God.

Let me use Jesus example to show how we can draw people to God through our ministry.

When Jesus came into this world, He served other people instead of expecting them to serve Him. That is exactly what He meant in the following passage of the Bible:

«…even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” . (Matthew 20:28).

Why did Jesus come to Earth to serve people instead of being served? By serving others, Jesus was showing us what ministry really means and how we are suppose to live our lives. Jesus was the happiest person in the world. Regardless of all ordeals, treason and many other things that took place around Him, Jesus never had a bad day. Why was that? Jesus never had a bad day because He was too busy with serving God and other people, so He had no time for self-pity.

Please get the message! Help meet the needs of God and other people, then He will take care of your needs and your problems!

God bless each of you abundantly!

See you tomorrow!

Rufus Ajiboye, pastor