Serving the Lord, Part III

Hi, and thanks for stopping by!

In continuing with our subject of Serving the Lord, I want to consider the Need and the Attitude in serving the Lord.

Romans 12:1 KJV 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

The need of the hour is to serve one Master.  no one can really serve two masters.  Jesus declared the futility of trying.  In Matthew 6:24, He said, No man can serve two masters:  for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the hone, and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon.  It is the test of loyalty.  The Lord desires and demands His people be loyal to Him.

Ye cannot serve two masters.  In those days there were slaves.  A slave was owned by one master only.  To that master the slave gave his total loyalty and service.  It would be absurd for a slave to devote himself to another master at the expense of failing to serve his own master.  That holds true with serving God.  It doesn’t make sense for believers to give their loyalty and service to others at the expense of failing to serve God Who redeemed them.

The Lord singled out two particular masters.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon.  God is the Creator.  God is the Redeemer.  He deserves the undivided loyalty and service of His children.  On the other hand, mammon is in competition with the attention and the devotion God deserves.  Mammon refers to the god of materialism, Satan, usually simply called “riches.”

Both God and mammon require absolute loyalty; therefore we cannot serve both.  There can be no compromise.  For either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  We cannot divide our love for God with anyone or anything else without suffering the consequences of not being spiritual.

What is our attitude in serving the Lord?  Is it an attitude of superiority?  Is it an attitude of pride?  Is there a sense of being indispensable?  The Lord Jesus taught we achieve spiritual greatness by serving Him in humility.  But it shall not be so among you:  but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant, Matthew 20:26, 27.  He presented His attitude as an example to combat arrogant attitudes.  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for man, Matthew 20:28.

Another attitude which is a hindrance to serving God is the idea that we don’t need to serve Him.  Since salvation is by grace through faith without personal works, some evidently feel they do not need to serve God.  It is true God saves the lost without the personal works of unbelievers.  However, the Lord saves people to serve.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them, Ephesians 2:10.  Salvation places people in a position to serve God.  A sense of gratitude for God’s love and mercy should cause us to want to serve Him.  There is so much incentive for a useful life of service!

A person who loves the Lord has a good attitude toward serving Him.  The problem is many talk about their love for God, but they fail to serve Him.  They are deceived.  Our service proves our love.  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves, James 1:22.

A believer whose faith is in the Lord has a good attitude toward serving Him.  Such service actually proves to the world that his faith is sincere and genuine.  Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works:  shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works, James 2:18.

So in conclusion, are you serving God today?  Are you even willing to serve God?  As a child of God, it is the only thing you should do.

I’m Joe Roberts and that’s My View From The Right!