Just Thinking...

Have you ever reflected on your service to God and your motivation for that service? I did that today and considered the following.  

I think that my motivation for service to God could be prioritized as follows:

• Relationship
• Obligation
• Desire

Relationship: I serve God first and foremost because of love. I am compelled by God’s love for me and, in return, my love for Him. 1 John 4:9,10 sums up this relationship:  In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. My initial response to the love of God extended to me is to reciprocate that love and abide in relationship with Him.  That must be the basis for my service because it is the only motivator that will sustain ministry and bear fruit.

Obligation: The culture in which I grew up no longer seems to espouse the principle of obligation or requirement.  It focuses more on self-will and self-determination.  But that is not the culture of the cross.  In Romans 1:13-15 Paul shared with the church at Rome that his desire was to come and minister to them, but he emphasized, instead, that he was a debtor to preach the gospel to everyone to whom he was sent: Greek, barbarian, wise, unwise.  He displayed a readiness to minister at the directive of God and not at the directive of his own will.  Jesus taught in Luke 9:23 that if any man would come after Him, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Him. As a Christian I am obligated to set aside my agenda and submit my service to the will of God.  I am called for His purpose; therefore, I am required to serve at His directives: when, where, how, to whom.

Desire: I serve God because I desire to please Him and to do His will.  I submit my desires and will to His. My desire cannot supersede my obligation for service.  If it does, I serve at my pleasure and not God’s.  Jesus addresses the priority that our desire should have in relationship to our service through His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane.  He prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Luke 22:42.  I see in this scripture that, perhaps, my priorities for service were modeled by the savior.  By addressing God as father, He was intimating relationship.  His desire was to have the bitter cup of crucifixion removed; whereas, His obligation was to submit His will to the will of God. Only through the submission of His desire, could Christ perform the service for which He was called.

My prayer is that I may love God wholly, fulfilling my obligation to the gospel mandate through submission of my will to that of the master.