‘We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News.’ 1 Corinthians 3:5 NLT

One day when Charles Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship, was scheduled to preach to 300 inmates at San Quentin prison, a lockdown was called and most of the prisoners were confined to their cells. To the few who were allowed to attend, Colson decided to go ahead and give the complete message he had prepared. Later when he expressed disappointment that all 300 were unable to attend, he was told, ‘We videotaped your message and will be showing it numerous times to all 2200 prisoners.’ What if Colson had given way to disappointment and just delivered a short devotional instead of the full evangelistic message he had prepared? More than 2000 prisoners would not have heard the Gospel.

An occasion may arise when you are the only person available to speak for God. Will you be faithful in such a moment? You are the most important person in the world to God when you are the one He has called to do something for Him. And the message is more important than the messenger. Paul writes: ‘After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.’ (1 Corinthians 3:5–8 NLT)

SoulFood: 2 Ki 18:17–20:21, Luke 15:11–32, Ps 27, Pro 7:10–20

The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright © 2026