I Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast (steady), unmoveable (firmly fixed), always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
How many of you have wanted to quit in life? Why shouldn’t we quit? Because there are reasons why we don’t quit, and they have nothing to do with you, and nothing to do with me. I’d like to share with you three reasons why I don’t quit. But first, we need to understand, by dissecting and defining, I Corinthians 15:58.
“Be ye stedfast.” That means “steady.” Don’t move! “Unmoveable.” Firmly fixed. God is telling us here to firmly fix ourselves and be steady. It sounds like we have a storm coming, doesn’t it? Once we are established, he tells us to be “always abounding.” This means “in great plenty all the time.”
The next phrase is, “in the work of the Lord.” We are to abound in the work of, Who? It’s not my work, is it? Now, I’m supposed to abound in the work of the Lord. So, here’s what He is saying: If I will just remain steady and firmly fixed, then God’s work on my behalf will abound! If I just stay still!
Notice it says, in. This is one of my prepositions. The word “IN” means “surrounded by limits.” Surrounded by limits of God doing the work! “OF” means “preceding from.” Surround yourself with the work that God is doing and remain within God’s work, not your work.
“Forasmuch as ye know that your labour…” who’s labour? I thought that it was His work! His work is the work of the Lord. My labour is to stay steady and firmly fixed! God is going to do the work around you! Just don’t move! It will be in plenty, but just stay still!
“[You] know that [your effort] is not in vain…” Vain means “nothingness.” Your work of remaining steady and firmly fixed is not for nothingness. If we do our work of remaining steady and firmly fixed, we will not be wasting our time IF it is in the Lord. Once again, “IN” means “surrounded by limits.” When there is a name after it, the name is defining what the limit is. So we can replace “limit” with the name. Our labor is not in vain if it is surrounded by the Lord.
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