2 John 7-8
"I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully."
John said in this verse, "Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for.". What does this mean? How can we lose what we have worked for? First, we could lose the fruit of our labor. When we serve the Lord, it is easy for us to focus on the task itself, but lose sight of the fruit of our work. We work diligently, but we find that the enemy can easily destroy the fruit of our work. In the parable of the sower Jesus referred to the farmer who went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. We often do not see fruit in our ministry because we do not understand the reality of the spiritual battle going on, and do not contend with the enemy. In the course of our ministry, we will face spiritual battles everyday. We need to pray fervently to overcome the work of the enemy.
On the other hand, we may not see the fruit of our labor because we do not recognize ourselves or our talents. As such, we do not serve in the appropriate ministry. This is one of the greatest waste of efforts expended in the church and causes loss in the effectiveness of our ministry. We do not recognize our strengths, our weaknesses and lose effectiveness in our ministry due to an incompatibility in our personality or lifestyle. This is such a heart-breaking thing!
John said, "do not lose what we have worked for.", referring to the fruit of our labor. In addition to that, we may lose the reward of our labor. Why is that so? This is because we tend to steal the glory that is due to God, especially when we are effective in our ministry. When praises come, we start thinking that we are so capable and forget that all our talents come from God. I love this analogy that another pastor once used to describe the praises of men. He said the praises that comes from men is like perfume. It may be nice to smell the fragrance for a while, but it will be a disaster if you drink it. This does not mean that we cannot graciously accept the praises of others since we all do need encouragement from one another in order to keep going. However, this means that we should never steal the glory that is due to God by thinking that it is our human strength and intelligence that is causing our ministry to be fruitful. When we steal God's glory, we lose the reward of our labor.
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