Hi Folks!
We have come into the kingdom to serve and worship God and there are three
basic categories that all of our servant hood falls under. I have already
discussed some on the first two... "Serving God" (ie. personally)
& "Serving in the Church". Today I would like to share on "Serving
in the World".
God our Father is looking for those who will serve and worship Him in Spirit
and in truth. There is no higher servitude to God (true worship), than to
obey Him with a willing heart and a willing mind. I discussed in the last
message that loving people (ie. serving them), and in this case especially
His very own children, is in turn loving the Lord. Do you love the Church
of Jesus Christ? Jesus is passionately in love with His children and we should
be also. Service to our Master Jesus is loving His very own household. But
there is more of course - we are to love the people of the world who don't
yet know Him, that He came to die for.
For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John
3:16
Jesus said... If you love Me, keep My commandments. John
14:15
Our love for our Lord will motivate us to obedience in expressing love towards
His children. But the same Lord also has commanded us to reach out and love
the whole world. Of course He is meaning the people that are in the world,
and not the things of this world which are passing away.
He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to
every creature. He who believes and is baptised will be saved, but he who
does not believe will be condemned." Mark 16:15-16
Why should we have the attitude of reaching out to every creature? Because
Jesus loves every person. You know, when it is all said and done and we reach
the end of our lives, we cannot take our stuff with us. We should be appreciative
of all the material blessings the Lord so graciously gives us, but we are
not to idolize or fall in love with them. People are the only real things
that we can make an eternal impact upon. It's how we have loved and treated
people while we are on the Earth that is most important. It may not always
be the easiest thing to do, or the most convenient, but we are to love our
neighbour... no matter who it might be, because Jesus loves them.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first
commandment, and the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your
neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:30-31
Well who is my neighbour? Have you ever wondered about that? As the word neighbour
suggests... it is the one "nearby". It is the person nearest you.
Maybe it's a family member or a work colleague? It may be the person who lives
next door to you or the person you pass on the street. It may be the person
on the checkout register at the supermarket, or the person who pushes in front
of you in the line at the post office. Have you ever noticed that sometimes
the most difficult ones to love are the ones nearest you? Which is easier
to love... the person nearest you, or the person on the other side of the
world that you have never met? Of course most times it is the person nearest
you isn't it? Maybe it's because we see all of their personal flaws, faults
and shortcomings. You see and even feel the little differences between themself
and yourself that may be an irritation to your outlook on life, or to your
personality preference.
None of us are perfect. Jesus chose to die for each of us when we were lost
sinners. Each of us were hell bound without the Master but He had mercy upon
us. Ought not we have mercy on those who have not yet received the salvation
of Almighty God through faith and trust in his Son? Yes of course we should...
but remember the neighbor He died for is the one nearest you. This is the
one that God has put in the pathway of your life to love and minister grace
to. Have you noticed that it is a natural tendency to judge others by what
they say and do, and to judge ourselves by our good intensions. You and I
are not to judge anyone else but ourselves. If we would be honest we would
admit that we have each missed God's righteous standard of living countless
times, thereby disqualifying ourselves of any right to stand over a soul as
his or her judge. No, we are to love people as we have been commanded... period!
Each soul is precious and is deserving of the opportunity of receiving eternal
life through Christ Jesus, if they will only choose to believe and obey the
Lord. But how will they know unless they hear the Gospel?
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how
shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As
it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel
of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” But they have not
all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our
report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of
God. Romans 10:14-17
You and I have the awesome responsibility of sharing the Good News with the
people of this world. It is a huge responsibility and a mammoth task for us
to get the Gospel into the hearing of every soul on Earth, but it is the will
of our Father that we do so. If we love the Lord we will be about our Father's
business of reaching out to the people Jesus died for. Will it take planning,
work and commitment to get the job done? Yes, but it will not get done at
all if we don't band together in absolute determination that we will love
people at any cost, even that of our own comfort and pride at times.
In saying all that about preaching the Gospel to folks, there is something
else that speaks just as loudly as the Gospel we preach - and sometimes even
louder. It is the way we live. You know, people out there are watching us.
This is happening whether we are aware of it or not, or whether we like it
or not. For some, you and I may be the only Jesus they will ever see. If they
don't see Jesus in our life, then they may never see Him at all. These are
sobering thoughts I do realise, but the responsibility we have as believers
to live right before God is not only to please our Lord, but to witness His
love, nature and integrity to others by the way we live. I will finish with
a few verses that will speak for themselves of the same.
Be blessed and enjoy serving our wonderful Lord. He is worthy of all of the
praise and glory.
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving
preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving
the Lord. Romans 12:9-11
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
Col 4:5
You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by
everybody. 2 Cor 3:2 (NIV)
David
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If you really fulfil the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself,” you do well
James 2:8