I work retail and on the big brown cork board in the back room is a sign that says "we are a commitment to inspire, motivate, empower, celebrate, and have gratitude for every person that comes through our front doors every day!" And wow, is that a huge calling. This proves especially true when you're running on very little sleep, no coffee, and every customer seems ruder than the last. Yet here I am, three years later, working with the same company and now a manager. There has to be a reason, right? Maybe it's because I love my co-workers, or I love interacting with the people who walk through our front doors, or even that the paycheck is rewarding. In the same that motivating quote pushes me to put on my brightest smile every day before I clock in, greet each grumpy customer with overwhelming enthusiasm hoping to change even one persons day for the better, and give my college retail job my all, The Great Commission as outlined in Matthew 28 pushes me every day to live my life for the people. Jesus says, clear as the red letters in my bible, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. "Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." To me this is not a choice, not an option God has given us, but a command as we follow Him and revel in His goodness. We are commissioned to GO and share that goodness! And what a time it is friends. Just as I am made uncomfortable when I have to ask a customer if they would like to "save 15% and sign up for a credit card so they can save 5% every other time they come in," I am constantly pushed to my limits and made uncomfortable for Jesus Christ's sake. Friends, we are all commissioned. YOU are all commissioned! And this is is such a blessing, because as you get out of bed today there is someone you know who doesn't know God's grace, who hasn't had the opportunity to experience God's love, or who is living in anger they could have let go of a long time ago. I don't say all of this lightly, and when I set out to write this post this wasn't even the direction it was heading. The great commission is a task and not one that God sets before us just because or with no reward in sight, but it is an honor He gives us, with a huge reward at the end. When we put ourselves out there God promises that "great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." He realizes the difficulties we face in sharing Him, and He makes it worth our while. This promised heavenly reward is definitely one to look forward to, but we can even see it here on earth. It's when you start a conversation with a stranger who becomes a close friend and ends up giving their life to Christ later on. It's when you plant a seed, the Holy Spirit does some stuff, and you hear years later that the same person too came to know Jesus and is living such a joyful life. It's when my friend asked me to baptize her this coming summer. Friends, God has given us His command, and as He asks us to take up His cross and work alongside Him, we can rejoice in the fact that we work for Commission.
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