It’s the joyous mystery of my life that this is what I’ve been chosen and gifted to do, and I regularly pray the ardor of ministry will not cause me to lose that joy. Does joy color your ministry? Does it quiet complaint and defend you against weariness or bitterness? Has the beauty of what you’ve been called to do been lost in the busyness of schedule and the repetitiveness of the task? Does your heart celebrate even when the days are long?

 
The thought often greets me, that this is how I get to spend my life. This is how I get to earn a living and support my family. This is how I get to use my mental and communicative gifts. This is what I get to research, memorize, and know. This is what I get to teach others. This is what I get to mentor others to teach to others. This is who I am. This is what I do. I am a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no higher honor and, other than my own salvation, no joy can compete.

I live every day with a deep sense of privilege. I carry a realization of the granduer of the task, that I’ve been chosen to be a lifelong ambassador of the King of kings. I’ve been called to tell his story, the greatest story ever told. And I don’t just get to tell it once; I get to tell it again and again. In fact, I’m called to never stop telling it and to never stop training others to tell it. I’ll never have a personal audience with the President or be welcomed into the court of a king. I’ll never be rich or internationally famous. But I am a spokesman for the King of kings and get to dispense his riches to the poor every day.

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