God's Work, not ours

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8 - 9 NIV
 
            In several recent conversations, I've focused on how we are saved - the fact that it is God's work and God's righteousness that save us, not our own! As with salvation, Bible Translation is ultimately God's work. It is His ministry, not ours. I am not trying to separate God’s work from ours, but to point to Him as the originator, orchestrator, and guarantor of Bible Translation!
            I've been telling people, "This wasn't our idea, this was God's idea." Consider the very next verse:

"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Eph.2:10).

The good work of translation was God’s idea. He has prepared me for Bible Translation and prepared specific opportunities for me. He has prepared all of our good works for us to do, and He has made us to do them!
 
What is He calling you to?
 
Don't brush it off. Weigh the cost and consider that pleasing God is worth more! Yesterday I told a few coworkers "If all I ever get out of life is a 'Kudos' from God, I'll be happy!"
 
So how is God the guarantor of Bible Translation? He desires that every people know Him and reveals that every people will be praising Him in heaven.
 (Psalms 64:9, 1 Timothy 2:4; Revelation 7:9)
 
How will they know Him? Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.
 (Romans 10:14-17)
 
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to every people, and then the end will come." Matthew 24:14 NIV
 
Many believe Christ will not return until the Bible is available in every viable language. How else could "every nation" (which really means every people group) understand the gospel? Most people will never understand it until they hear it or read it in their heart language, the language they spoke at home growing up.