A volunteer for the service of the Lord

Last March I was reading through the Old Testament book of 2 Chronicles for my personal devotions and I happened upon an interesting passage in chapter 17 concerning the godly king Jehoshaphat.

And Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store cities, and he had large supplies in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. This was the muster of them by fathers' houses: Of Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, with 300,000 mighty men of valor; and next to him Jehohanan the commander, with 280,000; and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, a volunteer for the service of the Lord, with 200,000 mighty men of valor. Of Benjamin: Eliada, a mighty man of valor, with 200,000 men armed with bow and shield; and next to him Jehozabad with 180,000 armed for war. These were in the service of the king, besides those whom the king had placed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah. - 2 Chron. 17:12-19 (ESV)

In this passage, the author lists five key commanders for the king’s army; Adnah, Jehohanan, Amasiah, Eliada, and Jehozabad. Each of these men had heavy responsibilities in leading thousands of others in service of the kingdom. However, did you note that only four of them appear to have been professional soldiers? One of them is distinguished rather differently and yet his responsibilities were no less in value or in quantity. Amasiah, we are told, was a volunteer for the service of the Lord, responsible for leading 200,000 men of valor. The others, I suspect were paid for their service but Amasiah gave himself to the service of the kingdom voluntarily. His responsibilities were no less valued by the king and certainly the expectations upon him were as high as the others. There was no slacking and no sense of being second-best or expendable.

As Chief Executive Officer of The Voice of the Martyrs, I, too, have my “commanders”; men and women whom I count on to fulfill their God-given roles in the mission. I have high expectations of them and their responsibilities are formidable. VOMC volunteers are among them! In no way do I see the role of our volunteers here at the mission as second-best, expendable, or not as important as our paid staff. They are vital to the success of God’s mission that He wants to accomplish through The Voice of the Martyrs. Only together can we glorify God by serving His Persecuted Church.

To each of our volunteers, I want to say thank you for your partnership in this vital service for the Lord. Not a VOMC volunteer yet? Click here, to find out more.