01/17/2023
Have you ever struggled to understand your service to God and others as it compares to the call of God itself? This morning I am contemplating these two wonderful aspects of our faith. Oswald Chambers boiled it down into this short explanation:
"To serve God is the deliberate love-gift of a nature that has heard the call of God. Service is expressive of that which is fitted to my nature: God's call is expressive of His nature; consequently when I receive His nature and hear His call, the voice of the Divine nature sounds in both and the two work together."
The apostle Paul received the call of God which revealed the nature of Jesus to him, and then among other things, he preached the gospel.
“But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:”
Galatians 1:15-16 KJV
When God calls us He instills us with a portion of His own nature and that nature begins to work in conjunction with ours to do wonderful things, and to transform our own nature into one which takes on the attributes of holiness.
Several years ago my father in law was reaching the end of his days; he was becoming weaker and failing. I was overcome by a driving need to serve him and do those things in his life that he could no longer do. During this period I would do many things for him, like mowing his lawn, cleaning out his gutters, putting in new light bulbs and the list goes on. The amazing thing about this time was how serving in this capacity filled me with the joy of God.
Many find it hard to understand how mowing grass can be Holy, but when it is mowed as the result of our nature joining with the nature of God within us... it becomes a love-gift. This gift is certainly a gift to the recipient, but it is also a gift to God himself, and a blessing to those who witness it. Then, in the most incredible aspect of all, it becomes a gift and blessing to ourselves... the giver.
Once again Paul spoke of giving, and this time he quoted Jesus in describing what comes of giving...
“I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all.”
Acts 20:35-36 KJV
Giving to, or serving others, is truly a blessing. When I look back on the years I honored God's call and His nature within me by humbling myself in service to my father in law, I count them as the holiest in my life. It was the single greatest time of spiritual growth I have ever experienced.
Doing something for someone to obtain personal gain is simply human, but when the nature of God is joined with your own, it produces a service that has no inkling of personal gain; just the expression of love as God would have us give it. This kind of service becomes Holy and brings us to a higher plain of faith. No other reward can compare.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for instilling in me a portion of your nature. I ask that you never cease giving me a measure of your love and grace each time you call me. Lord, in serving others without any cause, other than a love for them and you, becomes my greatest gift and blesses me beyond all description. In what many describe as work, I find pleasure because of your presence in it, and there is no thanks that I can give which is sufficient to express my feelings of appreciation for those times. Holy Father, your nature within me has changed my very being and blessed me beyond anything I have ever known. Let me continue to find ways in which your nature can influence mine and create a newness; a holiness within me, through your call.
Rich Forbes