How do I make the necessary distinction between ministry to myself and ministry to others? The Bible certainly makes clear that the threshing ox has a right to eat the grain it has threshed (1 Corinthians 9:9), and the priests ate the leftovers of the bread and sacrifices. But here is an important point I must remember: I am allowed to partake only in the exercise of my service to others. Nowhere does the Bible say I can sit down, take it easy, and still expect to eat the fruits of the service.
As I look again at Jesus’ statement about the vine and the branches (John 15), I am struck by the fact that the branch did not partake of the fruit; it partook of the vine itself. The branch exists for ministry, to pass on the life of the vine until fruit forms at its tips, so that the needy who are around about may be satisfied. The branch’s satisfaction comes from the vine, yes, the very root of the vine.
I must be careful not to use God for myself. The life of discipleship is just the opposite: God using me for Himself. I must beware of asking God for something that ends with me, such as health, money, or success. I must never lose my vision of God as Master, whose right it is to command me for His purposes; or treat Him as my servant, who must satisfy my every whim. My life must be a branch that simply transmits the fruit of the vine to the eater. The more fruit I channel and the more the needy are satisfied, the greater is God’s glory (John 15:8).
Then I will be like Joseph, who was “a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; its branches [ran] over a wall” (Genesis 49:22). His “blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than the bounty of the age-old hills” (v. 26, NIV).
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain” (John 15.16).
Daily with the King 