Mark 6:34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

The motive for teaching isn’t to make the teacher feel good, (though it often does) but to meet the needs of those being taught. There are sadly some teachers who do it for the paycheck, but there are certainly more efficient ways to make money. There are more who are in it because they crave the position of authority, of being the one “in the know.” Neither of those are good for the students, or for society. As always, Jesus is our perfect example. He taught because He saw the people needed it, and He did so at considerable inconvenience, at least, to Himself. He and His disciples were worn out from ministry and He was wanting to debrief them from their time on their own, but confronted with need, He met it. We aren’t to be working constantly, but we need to recognize that God has created and equipped us as agents of His grace and mercy, and rejoice to allow Him to use us in that way. We too are surrounded by “sheep without a shepherd,” and we need to allow the Great Shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13:20) to use us to meet their needs. We can’t do it properly in our own strength and resources, but we need to remember that God can do it, even using us. Jesus trusted that His Father would support Him in ministering to this crowd, and we need to do the same.

Having been in secular teaching for 42 years and Christian ministry for longer than that, I’ve learned this from many angles. I will be the first to say that there is satisfaction in teaching, most especially when people are eager to learn, but there are also frustration and burnout, and wisdom is called for. I got into secular teaching simply because I needed an income source to be able to do ministry, but I quickly discovered that the pay wasn’t necessarily worth it! Actually, teaching Medical English in a private vocational school in Japan, the pay was generous for the hours taught, but when I was able to add Speech Therapy to what I was teaching, my satisfaction level went up greatly! My particular focus was vocal production and pronunciation, and those weren’t on the curriculum anywhere else, for budding speech therapists! Knowing that what I was teaching would equip them to help others was a huge motivation. In church ministry, I am surrounded by people outside the church who know nothing of the Gospel, and in the church, by people who don’t know how to apply the Gospel to their daily living. I urgently want to meet those needs, but I certainly can’t get it done on my own. As Jesus did, I need to rely on my Heavenly Father to pour His Spirit through me to accomplish His gracious will. Like Jesus, I need to recognize that my sustenance is to do the will of my Father. (John 4:24) That verse is quoted on my physical father’s gravestone, and I can do no better.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me not only do Your will, but do it for the right reasons. Anything less isn’t really Your will! I ask You to guard and guide me each day, so that I may be an effective agent of Your kingdom, drawing people to You for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!