Philippians 2:14 “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
The Apostle Paul’s greatest desire was to please the Lord with His labors among the Churches. Like Paul, we should all work with all diligence to obey our Lord to the very best of the ability that He gives us. Furthermore, we yearn to be prosperous in His service; thus, in our spiritual mind, to hear Him say to us, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21)! Our spiritual mind is humble and meek and does not lust after carnal promotion or laudatory praise; but, it does desire to be faithful and prosperous servants of the Lord. The phrase, “in the day of Christ”, can refer to some great act of our Lord in the lives of men and His Church in this present world, to our last day on this earth, or the great day of the Resurrection. Paul does not infer that there will be plaques of praise passed out in Heaven; he means that when his work on earth was done, he wanted to leave this present world feeling that he had been profitable unto His Lord during his life. If so, he would “rejoice” knowing that he had pleased his Lord and had shown His love to his Lord by his faithful obedience to Him (John 14:15). It is a mystic thing, but even as we live, our blessed Lord has a way of communicating His love to us and, when appropriate, say to us “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”! Paul yearned to feel his Lord’s pleasure in his “labours” so that he would be assured that he had “not run in vain, neither laboured in vain”. This should be the greatest desire and quest of us all, most especially the ministering servants of God!