Being Faithful in Service to Give God as Food to the Saints in God’s Household

If we want to follow the Lamb and go on to maturity to become the firstfruits, we must be faithful in service in the Lord’s commission to give God as food to the members of His household so that we may win Christ as our reward in His coming kingdom; we need to be channels of supply to give His people food at the proper time.

Lord Jesus, we love You and we come to You in Your word with the exercise of our spirit. How we love to spend time with You in reading the Bible and the ministry so that we may be filled with the riches of Christ! Amen, Lord, fill us and saturate us with Your riches. May we be filled with You to overflowing so that we may minister God as food to the saints. May there be a flow of life, a flow of the riches of Christ, coming out of our innermost being to feed others! Amen!

On the one hand, for us to be the firstfruits, we need to spend time with the Lord, enjoy Him, love Him, grow in life unto maturity, and have a personal walk with God by faith. On the other hand, our being the firstfruits is corporate, for we live not as individual Christians but as members of the Body of Christ.

As members of the Body, we are interrelated, we fellowship with one another, and we depend on one another. Even as the human body is composed of many members and each member grows, but together the body grows, and also all the members function interrelatedly, so it is in the Body of Christ.

Our walk with the Lord by faith is not something we do individually for ourselves; we do this in and for the Body, for we are here for the building up of the Body of Christ.

The Lord placed us in the church life, where we are related to the saints, we fellowship with the saints, and we learn to minister life to the saints.

On one hand, we need to walk with God, having a personal, intimate, and sweet walk with God by faith, always trusting in Him and denying our self so that Christ may live in us.

We walk with God upward, daily getting closer to God until one day we will be fully in His presence.

On the other hand, our walk with God and our living a life for God’s satisfaction is in the Body, in God’s household, and as members of God’s household, we need to learn to minister life to the saints, even to give them food at the proper time.

May we be those who not only walk with God personally but even more, learn to minister God to the saints for the building up of the church.

Being Faithful in Service in the Lord’s Commission to Give God as Food to the Saints in God’s Household

In Matthew 24:45-51 we see that we must be faithful in service in the Lord’s commission to give God as food to the members of God’s household so that we may win Christ as our reward in the coming kingdom.

If we want to follow the Lamb today and go on to maturity to become the firstfruits, we need to be those who are faithful in service to give Christ as food to those in God’s household. The household is the believers (Eph. 2:19) who constitute the church (1 Tim. 3:15).

To give food to the saints is to minister the word of God and Christ as the life supply to the believers in the church. We all must learn how to minister the life supply to the household of the Lord at the proper time.

On the one hand, in the aspect of life, we need to have a personal walk with the Lord, a personal and intimate pursuit of Christ as the most precious One.

In this aspect, we are like the virgins who love the Lord and want Him to come soon. On the other hand, in the aspect of service, we need to be the faithful slaves of God who serve the Lord.

We serve the Lord not mainly in doing things in the church or outwardly; we serve Him by giving food to His people.

This is so that we may follow the Lamb wherever He may go and so that we may be brought unto maturity. We receive the Lord as life, we enjoy Him as life in His word, and we prepare something to give to others also. We want to give God’s people food at the proper time.

Who then is the faithful and prudent slave, whom the master has set over his household to give them food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing; he will set him over all his possessions.

God has a household and, to care for all those in His household, He has a household administration, an economy. God has an economy to dispense Himself as food to the members of His household for His expression (1 Tim. 1:4; 3:15; Eph. 2:19).

He gives us food not only Himself directly but mainly through the other members of His household.

It is not God Himself that shines from heaven to preach the gospel to us or to speak to us individually; He speaks to us through the members of His Body, and His riches are dispensed into us by the saints around us.

God has set faithful and prudent slaves over His household as household administrators, stewards, channels of supply, so that these ones would give His people food at the proper time (Matt. 24:45; 1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 3:2; 1 Cor. 4:1; 1 Pet. 4:10; Phil. 1:25).

As we love the Lord, open to Him, fellowship with Him, prayerfully muse on His word, and enjoy Him in our daily life, we are constituted with the riches of Christ.

These riches become our very being, for we are filled and saturated with the Lord. Such a constitution and enjoyment is not merely for ourselves to grow in life unto maturity but even more, for us to dispense to those around us.

We live in God’s household, and we are all set by the Lord to give others food at the proper time. It is not only the elders, the co-workers, the older ones, or the responsible ones that should minister Christ to others; each one of us has a portion of Christ!

As 1 Peter 4:10 says, each one of us has received a gift, and we should minister it among ourselves as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

We each were given a gift, a portion of Christ; we need to learn to dispense Christ as food to the saints.

What does it mean to give food to the saints, the members of God’s household? Does it mean that we prepare a sermon or we write down a good and solid sharing from God’s word to recite or read to them? Not in the least!

To give them food refers to ministering the word of God and Christ as the life supply to the believers in the church.

We enjoy Christ as the life-giving Spirit in the word as our food, for we partake of His riches in the word of life (John 6:57, 63, 68; Acts 5:20).

Before we can feed others, we first need to eat and be constituted with God’s word.

We need to spend much time with the Lord in His word, prayerfully considering His word and musing on His word. We must pray over the word of God and muse on it, tasting it and enjoying it through careful considering (Eph. 6:17-18; Psa. 119:15; Ezek. 3:1-4).

As we do this, as we devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4; 2 Cor. 3:6, 8; John 7:37-39; cf. Heb. 7:25; 8:2), we are constituted with the riches of Christ, and we can minister these riches to others also.

May we be the faithful slaves, the prudent slaves, who minister the riches of Christ as food to the saints in God’s household for their growth in life for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ!

May we follow the Lamb in this way, the Lamb who shepherds us, so that we may also shepherd the saints in God’s household and be produced as the firstfruits for God’s satisfaction!

Lord Jesus, we want to follow the Lamb and go on to maturity to become the firstfruits! Amen, Lord, make us the faithful and prudent slaves in Your household, those who give food to God’s people at the proper time. May we be faithful in service in the Lord’s commission to give God as food to the members of His household so that we may win Christ as our reward in the coming kingdom! Oh Lord Jesus, we praise You for putting us in Your household to enjoy all Your riches in and with the saints! Hallelujah, God has a household and a household administration, an economy, to dispense Himself as food into us! We open, Lord, to enjoy You as our food. We come to You in Your word to partake of Your riches. May we be filled and constituted with the riches of Christ so that we may dispense these riches to others in Your household. Amen, Lord, we come to pray over Your word and prayerfully muse over it. We want to taste Your word by enjoying it with careful consideration. Fill us with Your riches and flow Your riches through us to the saints around us!

We Minister the Gospel to the Sinners and we Give Food to the Saints at the Proper Time

Every proper mother knows that food is very important, and food at the proper time is the way to help the people in her household to grow and be proper.

She cooks and prepares a good breakfast, lunch, and dinner for those in her household, and she makes sure that everyone eats properly and is satisfied, for eating proper food at the proper time is the way to grow in life unto maturity.

Whoever serves food to others knows the appointed times to dispense food to them. Similarly, in God’s household, we are those who not only eat and enjoy the Lord personally but also dispense Christ as food into others, into the members of God’s household.

We don’t just give them a coffee and a doughnut, something that we hastily prepare or purchase; we prepare healthy meals, for we enjoy the Lord, and something of the Christ we enjoy flows to them for their nourishment.

To be a faithful slave is to be diligent; we need to be diligent to prepare food and to dispense food at the proper time.

What is the proper time to minister food? On the one hand, Paul said that we should speak in season and out of season; on the other hand, we need to minister food to the saints whenever we meet.

We have the Lord’s Table meeting, the prayer meeting, the prophesying meeting, and the home meetings and group meetings; all our meetings are the proper time for us to give others food.

May we not be lazy in our enjoyment and pursuit of the Lord but be diligent in seeking Him in the Word so that we may be nourished and also prepare something to serve as food to the saints when we meet.

Whenever we come to the Lord’s Table meeting, to the prophesying meeting, to the prayer meeting, and to the home group meetings, we need to bring something of the Christ we have enjoyed and experienced to minister to the saints.

When we meet with sinners, we seek to minister the gospel of Christ to them; we speak the riches of Christ as the gospel to the sinners (Eph. 3:8).

When we meet with the saints, we minister something of the Christ we enjoyed. If you take a look at what is happening in a hospital, different sick patients receive different kinds of meals, depending on their need and their ability to eat.

The nurses need to know what to minister to each patient for them to eat properly and be restored. The church life and this whole world is like a big hospital; we are all sick, and we all are learning to care for one another.

To the sick ones who are in the world, the sinners, we need to minister something of Christ as the gospel for them to see the beauty of the Lord and be touched by His dying love; then, we need to bring them to call on the name of the Lord as they repent so that they have a proper salvation.

To the saints in the church life, we need to learn to minister Christ according to their level, considering their condition before the Lord and seeking to give them food at the proper time.

Each one of us has a particular need, and we need to be one with the Lord to minister the Christ others need at the proper time.

If some believers are sick of something, we need to minister some word from the Bible that suits their condition so that they may be nourished, healed, strengthened, and awakened. We need to be before the Lord concerning this matter.

He has set us as channels of supply in His household, and we need to be one with Him to minister food to others at the proper time according to their need.

On our side, we need to open to others ministering of Christ to us so that we may be nourished and supplied. Then, as we are ministered to, we need to dispense the riches of Christ to others also.

Lord Jesus, we want to be diligent in seeking You in Your word so that we may be filled with Your riches and have something to share with others also. Amen, Lord, may we be the faithful slaves whom You have set over Your household to give them food at the proper time. We love You, Lord, and we open to You. We want to cooperate with You today. May we give Christ as the gospel to the sinners today. May we learn to minister the riches of Christ to the saints according to their need. Oh Lord Jesus, we open to You. May we consider others’ situation and their need. May we labour over others before the Lord with much prayer. May You have a way to flow Your riches toward others for them to be nourished, healed, strengthened, and awakened. Oh Lord Jesus, You know what we need. You know what others need. May we be one with You, following the Lamb, to give others food at the proper time! Make us the faithful and prudent slaves who are rewarded by You with Christ in the coming kingdom!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1985, vol. 5, “The Way to Practice the Lord’s Present Move,” pp. 514-517, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (4) (2025 December Training), week 45 (msg. 9), The Lamb Whom the Overcoming Firstfruits Follow – day 5.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – To the lost world minister Christ, / Not just by word, but by life, / Imparting Christ by living deeds / To the poor souls living in strife. / To the lost world minister Christ, / By daily walk making Him known; / Imparting Christ by whom you live, / Share with all men what you own. (Hymns #922 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – For His servants Christ will come / And reward each faithful one; / Slothful ones will be undone— / Serve in time! / Make your single talent count, / All self’s problems now surmount, / Serve with Christ, the living fount— / Serve in time! (Hymns #1304 stanza 3)
  – Lord, speak to me, that I may speak / In living echoes of Thy tone; / As Thou hast sought, so let me seek / Thy erring children lost and lone. / O lead me, Lord, that I may lead / The wandering and the wavering feet; / O feed me, Lord, that I may feed / Thy hungering ones with manna sweet. (Hymns #903 stanza 1-2)