SERVING GOD RIGHTLY

SERVING GOD RIGHTLY
Tuesday, 14th April 2020
Pastor Victor

Exodus 23:25 And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

There is a right way to serve God. You cannot serve God the way you want to serve Him – God has His own way of doing things. I love what Pastor Chris said: Let’s do God’s things God’s ways. This is so simple but profound!

We are to serve God with joy and gladness of heart. Deuteronomy 28:47-48 says, “Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; 48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.”

Under the Old Covenant, God promised a curse on those who did not serve Him with joyfulnees and gladness of heart. This is serious! Even though in the New Testament Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the law, we are still to serve God with joy and gladness of heart if our service is going to be pleasing to God and receive a reward. When we give to God let us do it cheerfully for God loves a cheerful giver.

We are to serve God with fervor. Romans 12:11 says, “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.” It delights God when we serve him with zeal and fervor. God hates lukewarm service. Most of the sacrifices in the Old Testament were to be offered by fire, other than that it will not be accepted. Fire on an offering speaks of divine acceptance. Whatever we are doing for the kingdom, let us do it with fervor.

Jeremiah 48:10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.

The word deceitfully is from the Hebrew word “ramiyah” which means idle, slack and slothful. This is scary! We have to do God’s work with fervor – we have to be boiling for Jesus. Anyone who does God’s work slothfully is headed for failure; it would have been better he did not do it at all.

Serve God willingly. 1 Corinthians 9:17 says “For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.” Nothing in the kingdom should be done out of compulsion. I mean nothing. No one should feel burdened to do the things of God. Folks ought to come out of their free will to serve God – of course you can compel them to do the things of God but not with compulsion. Our service to God does not make Him better; He is who He is already. Our service to God rather positions us to enjoy His blessings and rewards. If you refuse to serve Him, God has a lot of folks ready to serve Him and bring Him immense pleasure. Serving God is just a privilege and the work of grace.

Serve God with love. This is so important. We should serve God because we love Him (Hebrews 6:10). This should be our primary purpose for serving God among other reasons. Serve God in the name of Jesus. Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” When you serve in the house of God, do it because of Jesus; don’t look at men. You are not here to serve men but God and His Son Jesus. Serve God heartily. Colossians 3:23 says, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”

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