By Pastor Layi Bamidele

THE only foundation that answers to greatness in life is service or stewardship. Psalms 11:3 says: “if the foundat-ion be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” No matter the beauty of a building, if it does not have a solid foundation, the future of that building is not guaranteed. The foundation of greatness in life is serving God. If you disregard God in your quest for greatness, you will end up with great disa-ppointment.

Pastor Bamidele

There are those called to serve God and others chosen to serve them. Not every minister of God is called to lead, some are called to minister to the well-being of God’s servants as armor bearers.  The scriptures speaks of people like Elisha, Joshua, Aaron as well as the disciples of Jesus.

Stewardship simply means serv-ing under a servant of God. Elisha served under Elijah. Everything that happened in the journey of Elisha, is divine connection of God for Elisha to fulfill his ministry via Prophet Elijah. Elisha was a typical example of follower-ship. He followed his master without looking back. Elisha was a focused man to the core and the aftermath of his stewardship was that he got a double portion of his master’s grace and achieved greater things.

Most people are not ready to follow, and when they do, their mission is to bring down their leader and usurp his position. That is why such people don’t go far in life. In the first place they were not forced to take the job, but the moment they got it, they’ll become something else, they will start ganging up against the boss and start degrading him.

If you gang up against anybody God has placed ahead of you in life: one, you can never be great. Two, you will fail in whatever you lay your hands upon. Remember the Bible says whatsoever a man soweth, he shall reap. So many ministers of God today serving under authority, once they become comfortable, the next thing they’ll be seeking ways to bring him down. Some will start building a church inside a church. Such ministers can’t go far in life.

If you look at Joshua, his initial calling was to minister unto Moses. A call to minister is a call to stewardship. The word mini-sters simply imply “servants “.

A steward is a custodian, that is serving God with a sense of accountability. A steward is a man charged with a responsibility and is expected to give an account at the end of his journey. When God called Moses, he chose Joshua, the son of Num to be his aide.

Service is the key to honour and greatness in life. It is the extent you go in serving God, that will determine the level of your greatness in life. If you look at the story of Jesus Christ, in Mark 3:14, the bible says: “And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach”.

The disciples ran errands for him and organized his meetings for him. Joshua was not addressed as a servant of God until his mission as a steward under Moses was ended after the death of Moses. That shows that his responsibility when Moses was alive was to serve Moses; when he was alive.

While Moses was called to serve God, Joshua was chosen to aid him to serve God effectively. In Numbers 3:6-7, God said to Moses “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him, And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle”. The Bible is referring to the Levi-tes here. Levites are the ministers of God, charged to serve God’s servant Moses in the discharge of his God-given assignments.

Despite the fact that Elisha’s call to follow Elijah was first to serve God’s servant as his personal aide, he was not a poor man in terms of wealth and position. He made himself a man of no reputation when he began to serve God’s servant Elijah. When you are called to serve God and meet needs of His ministers, you will not be in need.

Your position cannot be a reason for you not to serve God. It is better for you to celebrate your service more than your position. There are many great ministers of God todapooch do not carry their families along. Your wife must believe in your grace and your calling. Wives must support the work of their husbands and back him to fulfill his God given mandate. You are not to see yourself as his rival in the fulfillment of his vision and mission or mandate.

.Bamidele is General Overseer, Christ Glorious Endtime Evangelical Church, Lagos. [email protected]