The Duty Of Service

The Duty of Service

During our lives as Christians we are required by our Lord and Savior to offer unto God Spiritual service. Paul tells us the following regarding service unto the Lord in Romans 12:1; “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.” We are obligated to serve our Lord to the best of our abilities. Jesus once said that the greatest law was to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”. But he did not stop there, Jesus further said “And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” These two laws are so important that Jesus further states; “On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets” (Matt. 23:37-40). The whole of the Old Law hung on the commands to love God and to love our fellow human beings. Jesus, when he was preparing humankind for Christianity, restated these laws as universal truths that would be translated into the New Law as well.

Serving the Lord demonstrates the love that we have for him in a way that nothing else can do. Jesus once asked Peter a very important question in John 21:15 “So when they had broken their fast, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.” Jesus also told his Apostles in John 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.” The Lord did not give these commands only to his Apostles, they apply to all those living as Christians as well. John tells us in his book of 1 John 5:2-3 “By this we know that we love the children of God, whenever we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” Our service to God demonstrates the love we have for him and the gratitude we have for his sacrifice for our sins. Not only does our love for God motivate our service to him, it makes that service a privilege, something that is never burdensome. If we ever find our lives as Christians burdensome, it is time to reevaluate our love for God and change our attitudes.

Serving the Lord also lightens life’s burdens during our Christian walk. The Apostle Paul teaches that service to God requires serving our fellow Christians as well. In Galatians 6:1-2 Paul teaches the following: “Brothers, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness, looking out for yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.” This is such a wonderful command, one certainly not burdensome. We, as humans who will occasionally stumble in our Christian lives, have this reassurance; our fellow Christians will always be there to help us in our problems and keep us right with God. It is a marvelous command, yet it also puts a great responsibility upon us all. Not only do we enjoy the fact that our fellow Christians are looking out for our souls, we have the responsibility to look out for the souls of our fellow Christians as well. We, as Christians, must gently tell people when they are in sin in order to restore them back to God. James tells us in James 5:19-20 “Brothers, if anyone among you wanders away from the truth, and anyone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner back from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins”.

Service is also the epitome of being Christ like. Jesus told his Apostles in Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” We serve our fellow human beings because that is what Christ did. Christ came to this earth not to sit on a throne and rule, but to serve people. As Jesus washed his Apostles feet he said, in John 13:13-14, “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say correctly, for so I am. Therefore if I, your Lord and your Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.” Jesus is our Lord, yet he served his creation and told his Apostles to do the same. We can learn from this example and serve others. Paul likewise stated in I Corinthians 9:19 “For being free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, in order that I might win the more.” Paul did not conduct himself in a way that elevated himself above others; he became a servant to people in order to become a servant of God. Paul also states in Galatians 6:10 “So then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith.” We all are commanded to serve other people in order to be good servants of God. We should never act in a way that elevates ourselves, but rather elevate others, as Paul said in Philippians 2:3 “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”

Service to God is a blessed privilege that Christians enjoy. Service is an obligation that is joyous to us. The Psalmist said in Psalms 40:8 “I delight to do thy will, O my God; Yea, thy law is within my heart.” If any Christian fails to give acceptable service to God, then he or she is considered unfruitful and unworthy, as John the Baptist stated in Matthew 3:10 “And even now the axe lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Even though we strive to be fruitful servants, we should never forget what Jesus said in Luke 17:10 “Even so ye also, when ye shall have done all the things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do.” When we have done everything that God has commanded us we come nowhere near being profitable, because the service we provide will never be enough to repay the debt that Jesus paid for us with his blood.