Loving God Means Serving Others - Steve Wickham
"You are as deep in debt as you can be to every attribute of God. To God you owe yourself and all you have. Yield yourself as a living sacrifice - it is but thy reasonable service." ~Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
These, above, are harrowing words. But they are nevertheless true. No matter what we do, how worthy and good within our own skin we feel, we can never please God of our own strength, deeds, or volition of self.
We owe God, and this is perhaps what sticks in the throat of the unbeliever.
Those who cannot reconcile themselves to their sinfulness cannot be saved, yet the irony is, those who know their sinfulness and have been saved are often given up by the nonbeliever as self-righteous hypocrites. We are all hypocrites, not the least the one pointing the finger.
Owing God is not an arduous trial. It is not a hopeless situation. Indeed the opposite fact applies. Owing God is our heaven-bound opportunity to love him by serving others.
Suddenly we find, as we seriously contemplate the earnestness of what God has done for us, we are inspired and compelled to serve-not so much out of duty, but out of devotion.
A THOROUGHLY DELICIOUS PROSPECT - LOVING GOD BY SERVING OTHERS
If we owe God - and we all do, equally - then we will love him, and, in doing that, we will connect serving others as the key mode of loving him.
When we truly connect the core purpose of being fully devoted to God, we understand the freedom we have to serve others, and, in that, to love the Lord our God.
Service, from this angle, is a thoroughly delicious thought, because giving to others according to the moment's need is a pleasing aroma to the Spirit residing everywhere.
We know that instant we've blessed God, because that instant God blesses us.
Loving God by serving others - his children, as we are his children - is understanding that we 'get' the Gospel.
The more we can reasonably offer ourselves as living sacrifices - and I say "reasonably," because God wants none of us burned-out - the more we will be blessed by the Lord.
God wants all of us, not by duty, but by devotion. Though we owe God, our Lord is not a hard taskmaster. Indeed, we are wondrously blessed to love God by serving others. We show we love God by serving others.
© 2013 S. J. Wickham. Steve Wickham is a Baptist Pastor and a Registered Safety Practitioner and holds Degrees in Science, Divinity, and Counselling. Steve writes at: http://epitemnein-epitomic.blogspot.com.au/ and http://tribework.blogspot.com.au/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Wickham Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7531643
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