“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” – 1 Cor. 15:58

A few years ago, I was telling people, with fond nostalgia, about how we used to serve God relentlessly, doing anything that was required in the ministry without any murmuring.

After telling a few stories of great ministry in the years gone by, an elder took me aside and asked me, “What about now?”

That question struck me like a lightning bolt.

You also probably have those tales of zealous service and ministry to God, to loved ones or to the community in the past.

Today, things are completely different – today life has literally turned you into a mere participant in Church services.

Of course life naturally moves in shifting cycles.

We experience seasons of abundance and seasons of painful loss.

There are moments of emotional clarity and stretches of deep dryness.

And in a world driven by self-preservation and instant gratification, our service to God can easily become conditional.

We serve when it is convenient, love when it is reciprocated, and labour when we feel inspired.

That was the state of the Corinthian believers, whose focus had shifted after some incorrigible false teachers arose with a message that questioned the resurrection of Christ.  

Paul’s charge to them was unequivocal after convincing them that the resurrection was a settled reality – “always abounding in the work of the Lord.”

Please mark that word – ‘always.’

Your labour in the Lord – whatever little you are doing in the service of the Lord – must not stop because it has eternal implications.

We tend to hear ‘always’ as a synonym for ‘daily,’ –  a call to keep a routine.

But the Greek behind it, en panti kairo, means something sturdier: at all times, in every season.

 Paul is not asking for consistency of habit.

He is asking for consistency of heart, through seasons that have nothing consistent about them.

That distinction matters, because most of our service is not tested by the effort itself.

It is tested by what happens when the seasons turn; when the energy levels ebb, when the address changes, when the health deteriorates, when there is a change of address or financial demands increase..

I mean you served faithfully for years in a ministry and no one noticed or appreciated.

You keep showing up for a family that drains more than it gives back.

And at some point a quiet question surfaces: is this even worth doing any more?

The world we are in runs on a simple exchange: you give, you get; you perform, you are praised.

When the return stops, the giving usually stops too.

Paul is describing a different economy.

Serve when it costs nothing, yes – but also serve when the field looks barren, when the people you pour into give nothing back, when the only witness to your obedience is God.

I want you to ask yourself plainly: where has this season frozen your devotion?

Where have you quietly pulled your hand back because no one clapped?

Cynicism will tell you that being a spectator in the pews on Sunday morning is wiser than pouring yourself out again.

It is not. It is just more convenient.

Paul’s answer to our weariness is not “rest until you feel like serving again.”

It is “always abounding, because your strength was never really yours to begin with.”

In Galatians, he puts the promise plainly: “Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9).

Christ is risen, so our labour in the service of God must abound because it is not a gamble.

It is an investment, held by Someone who does not default.

Continue to serve me en panti kairo – always – in every season, says the Risen Lord.

Your labour in the Lord – whatever little you are doing in the service of the Lord – must not stop because it has eternal implications.

So keep at it, always, regardless of the season.