Who You Gonna Serve

“²⁴No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” – Matthew 6:24 (ESV)

This morning as I continued my study into choices, I was reminded that we have to choose to serve somebody. At this I was reminded of the verse above that we cannot serve God and money. That we cannot have two masters in our lives. Where money and the challenges it poses was not the focus of my study this morning, it is certainly one of those things that vies for our attention and service.

Where we are giving our attention is where our service lies. Is it a work and our devotion to that work. Are we spending so much time there that it is keeping us from other things in our lives. Is it in an idol or group that steals us away from other places in our life. Is it in an individual that consumes our being so much that no other person even really exists in our lives. Or, is it in ourselves, where we are more focused on getting ours that the rest seems to go by the wayside.

Either of these will certainly take up our attention and drive us away from the others. But what if we were to chose the one to serve that ultimately leads us back to all of the others that we may be separated from. Jesus and God’s Word is the one authority we serve that leads us back to all others. Our service to God not only gives us purpose each day, but that purpose is in assisting others achieve what God has for them as well.

We should be choosing God. Oh, don’t get me wrong, however we come to know God is great, it is the choosing Him that gets us where we should be. But, when we choose Him, we are making the conscious decision to serve Him. Sometimes I believe that sometimes, people “come” to God, selfishly looking for the next thing in their list of accomplishments. It was a choice of convenience to get something and then the choice is abandoned for the next thing on the list. There is a lack of service to the LORD and a looking for something from the LORD instead.

You cannot give your attention to more than one. Even by not “choosing” where to put your service is a choice in and of itself. By not choosing, you have chosen ambiguity and chaos. You have nowhere to put your trust and devotion. You have chosen to drift and where drifting may be okay in the moment, ultimately it leads you nowhere, at least nowhere of any real consequence to you. You are simply living for yourself and the momentary “happiness” that fades when the moment is gone.

Stumbling or expecting to drift into the LORD is not the way. Make the conscious choice to serve Him. As noted in the Matthew 6:24 above, you can only love and be devoted to one master. When we choose to serve the LORD, He gives back to us the lasting joy that cannot be found in things of this world. By choosing the LORD and serving Him, we are rewarded with that which we need and blessings that we don’t deserve based on the sin we commit and the sinner we are.

Who do you choose to serve? Are you looking to serve yourself or something else to get that momentary “happiness”? What if you were to choose lasting joy and the only one you can serve to provide it, our LORD Jesus Christ?

Choose God

Did you know that we choose God? I started a new study this morning on choices and the first choice that is pointed out is the choice to choose God.

It seems like a pretty simple thing and why wouldn’t we choose God. But there is a little more to it than first thought. James MacDonald writes, “He is less like the options on a new car and more like the person you decide to marry.” Now that is an interesting point when it comes to choosing God.

How often are we in the business of choosing God in a time of crisis. The wall of the house has a crack and we choose to pray that the damage is only on the surface as opposed to deeper in the foundation. Or, we are at the doctor and get some less than favorable news and choose to pray that God will take the challenge away. I know that I am in the prayer closet when things are not going great.

But, what about when things are just pressing along. Are we choosing God for those decisions that are not based on crisis? Did you choose to pray for God to provide you with your spouse for a lifetime? As you look to what church to attend, are we choosing to pray for God’s direction? Are you in a place where things are going well and are you choosing God’s direction on what is next?

I have a prayer list that I work through daily and on that list is everything from worship of God, to thanksgiving for His provision, to what is next for me and us as a family. When I look a the list, I see that I am choosing God for the purpose of His leadership. I have chosen to have Him be the guide for me. But, this morning I was convicted to whether or not I choose Him for my dependence. Am I choosing God as the author of my life or to get me through the decision I have made in my life. What a difference.

“¹³You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” – Jeremiah 29:13-14

I chose God, and yet, as seen in the above verses, am I reliant on Him to take me were He would have me go and be or, am I expecting Him to get me where I want to go and be. I have to choose more definitively. I have to be all in with God at the top of my priority list. I have to choose to serve God in all that I am and do.

“¹⁴Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:14 (ESV)

Who do you choose? Are you choosing God when you are in crisis or you “need” Him? What if you were to choose God knowing that He chose you and you devote yourself to Him?

Don’t Equate Bigger with Better

Even Jesus was not pleased with all of the large crowds following Him. He new that there were those who were, as known in the sports world, “fair weather fans”. Those that once things got a little difficult or when He would not be around would turn away and go back to the life they had before.

“⁶⁰When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’ ⁶¹But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, ‘Do you take offense at this? ⁶²Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But there are some of you who do not believe.’ (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) ⁶⁵And he said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.’” – John 6:60-65 (ESV)

Jesus had just told the people of His being the Bread of Life and gave some hard truths. The people heard and were grumbling of the difficulty of it all. He did not do this to scar the people, but to inform them that the to be a disciple of His, it would take work and would not always be a winning proposition. To which they turned away as their shallow following was exposed.

Jesus was working to build the church with a strong foundation and that could only be with those who would understand, stay, and carry it forward, even when things were hard and when He would not be there for them to follow. The church is built on Christ, not some charismatic individual that can draw a crowd. When that individual is no longer there, the “fair weather fans” will leave and only the devoted will stay to carry the church forward.

The church is not to be a crowd of people, but a team of disciples. Those who will take what they have learned and carry it forward. Yes, numbers are important, for the larger the numbers, the larger the reach. But, there should not be a sacrifice of quality in the interest of quantity. Beware of large numbers. As they are not a sign of a healthy church.

What is your view on crowds? Are you enamored at them and see them as a sign of great things? What if you were to be cautious with them and looked to devotion as opposed to simply a hoard of “fair weather fans”?

Devote to All the Family

“¹⁶But Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.’” – Ruth 1:16 (ESV)

Here we find Ruth declaring her full devotion to Naomi. It seems like this would be the easy and normal thing, to devote yourself to someone fully. But, the context of the devotion is even more telling. Ruth was the daughter-in-law to Naomi and her husband had died, as had the husband of Naomi and the other daughter-in-law Orpah. There was nothing keeping them all together as the custom was for the daughter-in-law to return to their family, and Orpah did. Ruth however, overcame the custom and the peer pressure and remained devoted to Naomi.

This is the devotion we are to have to one another. My wife and I are in our 50s at this point in our lives. We love one another and are devoted to one another. If something were to happen to me, I would not expect Lori to devote herself to my mother or family as she has those of her own and I am sure that she would not expect that of me either. But, the love we have for one another is not just for one another. We love our families as our families and Lori’s mother is mine and my mother is hers. We are devoted to one another’s families as we are to our own.

The same is the case in our lives with Christ. We are a son and daughter of Christ and are devoted to Him and our extended Christian family as we are to one another. I will go where the Father sends me and Lori will do the same. When it comes to our relationship with Christ, Ruth does put it best in verse 16 above.

What does your devotion look like? Are you committed for the short while? What if your were fully devote to one another and to the LORD as Ruth describes in verse 16 above?

The LORD is Fixed on the Righteous

It is again not surprising, but amazing that the LORD leads me to passages again and again to learn. Where this morning I was brought to 1 Peter and a passage I have studied a number of times, the LORD has a different learning for me today. Even the verse I was lead to is a citation from Psalm that I have studied before with my exploring of the word “righteous”.

“¹²For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

— 1 Peter 3:12 (ESV)

This morning I was struck, not by the eyes or ears of the LORD being on the righteous and their prayer, but by the intense focus He has in doing so. The LORD is fixed on the righteous. He is fully devoted to His people. His eyes and ears are fully engaged with all that we are doing and saying. He is so fixed on us that all others He has turned away from. Those who do evil are not in His sight or earshot. The LORD is with us always looking and listening for our needs and work completion for Him.

I know, this seems pretty ominous for those who are evil. How is it they will be found by the LORD if/when His eyes and ears are not focused on them. This is where the world gets the wrong idea of the LORD. The world seems to think that if the LORD does not bless everyone, then the LORD is not good. How could this loving god (lower case “g” intentional) not be loving to everyone and keep all from evil?

Well here is my visualization of it all. Imagine that the righteous are seen under a spotlight and that spotlight allows for audio (like the optical audio cable for your media). The LORD sees and hears that which is in the spotlight. All that is outside the spotlight is there yes, but not seen or heard by God. It is the work of those in the spotlight to bring others in through evangelism and love and the carrying of the gospel to them. Once those outside the spotlight step in, they are now seen and heard by the LORD.

This may be a bit of a simplification of what I read and study this morning. It is not that the LORD is not loving to those who are evil, it is that they are not the focus of His attention. It is those who are focused on and devoted to Him who get His immediate attention. To get the LORD’s immediate attention and be the focus of His eyes and ears, one has to turn to Him and devote to Him and the carry of His Word forward to the rest of the world.

As I write and study this morning, the world is in darkness. There is evil throughout. Yet, there are those who are in the light and that is where the LORD is fixed. He is looking to and listening for the righteous to bless them and guide them. The LORD is looking for the righteous to carry His Word and Grace forward to the world to bring more into the light. You see, the LORD loves all and wants all to experience salvation, and He will fix on all once they have turned to Him. Until then, He will remain fixed on the righteous and lead them to their reward in heaven.

What is your view of where God should be focused? Are you one that believes that God should give all the same regardless of standing with Him? What if you realized that the LORD loves all, and is fixed on the righteous and waiting for you to join them in the light?

Honor Marriage

I certainly did not expect to read up on marriage this morning and especially in the realm of sex and marriage.

“⁴Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” – Hebrews 13:4 (ESV)

Lori and I have been married for over 27 years. I love her dearly and only want to please her. Has our marriage been all sunshine and rainbows, that would be a resounding NO. There have been some really difficult times to deal with in our household and our relationship, as I expected and know is the same for all marriages. But, we made a promise to each other and to God, in front of a good number of witnesses that we would be in it for the long haul, and through the good and the bad. We are devoted to one another and to the sanctity of our marriage and that promise made years ago.

I believe that our relationship has lasted as long as it has and will continue to last is due to promises made. Not just the one made for our marriage, but the promise made to follow God in our marriage. The promise made to God in our individual life. The promise God made of salvation. All of these and many more are the reasons for our relationship success.

As I have mentioned before, my study of God’s Word is just following the topic led to from the concordance. I am currently in a study of the word “honor” and allow God to lead my learning for the day on that topic. This morning I was led to Hebrews 13 and the passage titled “Sacrifices Pleasing to God”. The verse above is where the word “honor” is, and I am led this morning to dive into this verse.

The title of the passage in Hebrews is a window into where I am going this morning. One of the things that are challenging with promises, is the keeping of them. There are sacrifices that may be required. And sometimes those sacrifices may not be easy to make.

I want to be clear here. I am not a proponent of sexual promiscuity. I will not promote the societal way of thinking that multiple partners is okay. What I will say is that it is clear in God’s Word that the promise of marriage is one that includes devotion to one another in the bedroom as well as everywhere else.

In reference to verse 4 above, it is the promise of sexual dedication to one another where there is sacrifice. I know, there is sacrifice in being dedicated sexually to your spouse? Yes, especially when you think of the openness of today’s societal thinking. It is acceptable in today’s world to see sex as a carnal instinct and that devotion to one other person as counter to that instinct. Well, it may be acceptable in this world, but it is not acceptable in God’s world. A promise was made and in order to uphold that promise, there needs to be sacrifice in this world.

Marriage is to be honored by all. Those outside of the relationship should hold marriage in high regard and pay the honor that is due to those in that relationship. Those who are married should honor the marriage with their sacrifice to give up those things of the societal world and devote to one another. All should sacrifice to ensure that they are doing those things that are pleasing to God as those promises are to be kept most of all.

What promises were made in your marriage? Are you still looking for ways to have it all without sacrifice? What if you took your marriage and honored it as you would honor your relationship with God?