For what is your life?

What is your motive in ministry, and really in life? Is it to bring glory
to God or to get the recognition of men? I have seen many people throughout
the years make statements that show their heart, "I want to be a pastor",
"My church is growing", "We are going to go and do...". I think of the
words written in *James 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we
will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make
a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what
is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then
vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall
live and do this or that.”* And then there are times that we need to check
our hearts in everything else that we do. The heart of the matter is truly
the matter of the heart. I think of the words of Paul written in *Col 3:23
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24
knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance;
for you serve the Lord Christ.* The other day as I was ministering to the
body, I looked around and thought, where is everyone else? Then God spoke
quietly to my heart and said, "You take care of those that I bring to you,
I will take care of the others". Brethren, may we stay focused on God's
plan and purpose for our own lives and leave the rest up to Him.

Douglas