How We Serve God Matters

One thing I discovered studying the scripture over the years is that when considering Jesus Christ and his offer to be my sacrifice for my sin it is clear there would be an exchange. I would be exchanging my way of life for his and that meant appreciating who and what he has done and will do in my life.

Most of the current generation of young people are so wrapped up in their self serving lifestyle they can’t even comprehend living for a purpose other than their own self interest. They generally are ungrateful for what their parents have provided for them over the years or the freedom the country they grew up in has provided. I know not all young people are twisted into such selfishness but I believe most are and you only have to watch the nightly news or read newspaper articles concerning what’s going on around us to understand this.

Unless a parent or a trusted adult teaches their children to respect the sacrifice of others they will never really embrace the sacrifice of Jesus.  Selfish children don’t become responsible adults by accident and we all know how Satan is constantly whispering in our ears to do the wrong thing when it comes to parenting.

One of the valuable lessons we all should take from the Old Testament is how God had to deal with the Jewish people and the nations around them who did not know the Lord nor submit to him. When Moses was ready to die, he left Israel and all of us a reminder about why God responds in judgment and why he responds in blessing. Contrary to some Christian theology, it’s not because people are “Predestined” to receive a blessings or judgment but rather because individuals choose a certain attitude and lifestyle of self interest with no sense of responsibility.

Towards the end of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses wraps up his instructions with what God says is the cause of suffering and judgment.  It might surprise you what God says is the cause.

Deuteronomy 28:47-48

Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

First God says the Jews, who are called by God as his people did not serve him but rather served themselves. Sound like so many today doesn’t it? That service is also referring to how they lived with others and either helped or hurt their fellow neighbor because we all know God commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Secondly, they didn’t serve the Lord with “Joy & Glad Hearts” meaning they reluctantly did things because they had to not because they wanted to. It’s like telling your child to do their chores like take out the garbage or clean their room and they stomp away pouting because they “HAD TO” not because they wanted to help out the family with those chores. god is not just concerned with our behavior but also our attitude.

Jesus taught about the same kind of thing when he gave the teaching about loving your neighbor to a lawyer. We all have seen lawyers trying to convince a jury that their client either didn’t mean to break the law or they were forced to because of their hard background growing up. Lawyers today are not know for wanting to defend the innocent but rather the guilty. I think this story reflects this lawyers attitude and condition of his heart of one who wanted to look good not be good.

Luke 10:25-26

And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

And He ( Jesus )  said to him, What is written in the Law?

How does it read to you?

We often want to justify our actions rather than admit our failure to God and get forgiveness and freedom from those consequences. We want God to feel sorry for us and give us a pass on the punishment when we fail to realize God is “Obligated” to judge fairly.

Jesus asked the lawyer what was written in the law of Moses and how did he understand it.  The funny thing is the lawyer answered correctly but he was not living a responsible life according to what he knew. He, like so many of us, want to give the right answer “Without” actually doing the will of God. The strange thing is that we expect God to be fooled about our motives and our actions when he can see right through our shallow arguments.

Jesus uses a parable or story to illustrate the core problem of what this lawyer wanted to hear rather than what he needed to hear about finding eternal life. We would do well to understand that God is attempting to uncover “Motive & Behavior” in this man’s life and thus taught the famous story about the “Good Samaritan”. In this parable, Jesus uncovers the core problem for this man, and for many of us, even after we claim to become Christians. We speak the truth of God’s word without ever having the intention to live it out.  It is easy to convince ourselves that our forgiveness is just by claiming Jesus is our savior when we act as if he is not.

In this story, Jesus asks the lawyer who “DID” the will of God rather than what the will of God is. I think Jesus is asking us the same questions, not about how many passages of scripture we can quote or have memorized, but rather what we are actually living out for God. We often fail to realize that Satan knows far more scripture than we can yet he lives the opposite of what he can quote. Somehow we fool ourselves that our confession should be enough to convince God about forgiving or blessing us when according to God’s word it is not. The fruit of our lives either does the convincing or the condemning.

Luke 10:36-37

Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers hands? And he said, The one who showed mercy toward him. Then Jesus said to him, Go and do the same.

Jesus, like Moses, tried to get at the core of our hearts and reveal the motives that drive us in our living.  Are we first living truly for God’s pleasure, which is to love him and our neighbor as ourselves or are we just being religious by quoting scripture and going to church to “Appear” holy and righteous? Never forget the old quote about our final judgment when God evaluates our living.  For some, “Pay Day Some Day” will be a harsh reality, not a homecoming.

Questions:

1) Why is it easy for us to believe God doesn’t care how we serve him when the scripture clearly says the opposite?  James 2:20 tells us works and faith go hand in hand or it’s not biblical faith.

2) Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to counsel you about your own motives or just assumed that God is good? 1 Sam 16:7 speaks about how God evaluates each and every one of us.

May the Holy Spirit help us to see clearly what God expects from us,

Pastor Dale