In The Ministry

The word "ministry" may not be so familiar to you but to me, I've heard that word all my life! Before he retired, my Dad was a preacher and pastor ... in the ministry. Now, I can tell you the most obvious parts of being "in ministry" - visiting the sick in hospital and homes, studying, preaching, counseling, baptizing to name a few. Dad was an educated man (college and seminary) but his greatest education was the ministry of The Word of God. How easily we forget when we open the Bible, God uses it to minister to us! The excellence of Hiss words guide us into holy excellence in daily living. "The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times." (Psalm 119:129, ESV). Since Dad's home-going last year, I've taken possession of a few of Dad's Bibles; they are filled with handwritten  notations and they are literally falling apart! Perhaps the condition of our own Bibles says a lot about how often we opened then and allow God's words to minister to us. How wonderful, therefore, from the work of The Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures we are all ... in the ministry.