Readings:
Job 13
I Corinthians 9:1-18
Focus:
I Corinthians 9:16: "Even if I preach the gospel, I can claim no credit for it; I cannot help myself; it would be agony for me not to preach."
Sometimes we think of service for God as something we have to do, but that we won't like it much. We think we have to put in some time doing things for others, maybe working at a homeless shelter or volunteering in some way at church, but probably doing something that we don't actually enjoy that much.
But in actuality God gives us gifts to use in his service, and when we are using those gifts, we are happy. We like what we're doing. As Paul, who was gifted with preaching ability, said, it would be agony to us not to do it. We just need to figure out how what we love to do anyway fits into serving God.
I like to sing. I'm miserable when I'm not singing. So one way I serve God is by helping lead the singing at church. It's a great combination of doing what I like and serving God at the same time. There are many other such combinations for other people, doing other things (for some people maybe it IS working at a homeless shelter). It works well.
Showing posts with label serving God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label serving God. Show all posts
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Serving God
Readings:
II Chronicles 27
Acts 28:16-31
Focus:
Acts 28:30: "He stayed there two full years at his own expense, with a welcome for all who came to him."
The Bible doesn't tell us how Paul died. The last we hear of him in the Bible is that he was in Rome under a sort of house arrest. Tradition has it, however, that he was eventually beheaded.
While he is under arrest in Rome, however, he does not spend his time lamenting his condition, or working full time on his own case. Instead, he welcomes all who come, and, as the next verse says, openly teaches about Jesus. He doesn't concentrate on himself; he concentrates on God.
Paul's goal in life was not to have the best life he could have for himself. His goal was to serve God as best he could, and to help others know about God, regardless of the effect on himself. That's an amazing goal, and one that I have a hard time making my own. It is something I know I ought to do.
II Chronicles 27
Acts 28:16-31
Focus:
Acts 28:30: "He stayed there two full years at his own expense, with a welcome for all who came to him."
The Bible doesn't tell us how Paul died. The last we hear of him in the Bible is that he was in Rome under a sort of house arrest. Tradition has it, however, that he was eventually beheaded.
While he is under arrest in Rome, however, he does not spend his time lamenting his condition, or working full time on his own case. Instead, he welcomes all who come, and, as the next verse says, openly teaches about Jesus. He doesn't concentrate on himself; he concentrates on God.
Paul's goal in life was not to have the best life he could have for himself. His goal was to serve God as best he could, and to help others know about God, regardless of the effect on himself. That's an amazing goal, and one that I have a hard time making my own. It is something I know I ought to do.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
God Is Not Tame
Readings:
II Chronicles 8
Acts 19:1-22
Focus:
Acts 19:15b: "Jesus I recognize, Paul I know, but who are you?"
Paul's preaching of the gospel was having such success and making such an impression, that all kinds of people became interested in it. This included some "itinerant exorcists." These people had not truly become believers in Christ. Instead, they thought of the name of Jesus as another method they could use to cast out demons, and they gave it a try. Instead of working for them, it backfired on them.
God is not ours to use as we wish. As C.S. Lewis says of the lion Aslan, who is the Christ figure in the Narnia books, God is not tame. God is god, and he will be Lord and accomplish his own purposes, and it is we who must serve him, and not the other way around.
Happily, God is a loving god, and what he wants is our good, so that when we let him be Lord, our good is accomplished better than we could ever do it ourselves.
II Chronicles 8
Acts 19:1-22
Focus:
Acts 19:15b: "Jesus I recognize, Paul I know, but who are you?"
Paul's preaching of the gospel was having such success and making such an impression, that all kinds of people became interested in it. This included some "itinerant exorcists." These people had not truly become believers in Christ. Instead, they thought of the name of Jesus as another method they could use to cast out demons, and they gave it a try. Instead of working for them, it backfired on them.
God is not ours to use as we wish. As C.S. Lewis says of the lion Aslan, who is the Christ figure in the Narnia books, God is not tame. God is god, and he will be Lord and accomplish his own purposes, and it is we who must serve him, and not the other way around.
Happily, God is a loving god, and what he wants is our good, so that when we let him be Lord, our good is accomplished better than we could ever do it ourselves.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Suited for the Job
Readings:
I Chronicles 15
Acts 9:1-9
Focus:
Acts 9:1-2:"Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord's disciples, went to the high priest and applied for letters to the synagogues at Damascus authorizing him to arrest any followers of the new way whom he found, men or women, and bring them to Jerusalem."
It's interesting to me that throughout the Bible, people's personalities remain the same. It's another detail that proves the reality of what we read. These weren't just invented characters; these were real people. Peter, for example, was always ready to throw himself whole-heartedly into things: when he saw Jesus walking on the water, that made him want to do it, too; when he understood why Jesus wanted to wash the disciples' feet, he asked Jesus to wash not just his feet but his whole body; when he was on a boat and he saw Jesus on the shore, he jumped out of the boat and plunged to shore.
Saul (Paul) also shows a consistent personality. What he believes, he believes firmly, and he is so convinced that he wants to go not only to people where he lives, but also to people in other towns, and carry his message there as well. So, before he was a Christian, he was so committed that he got permission to go hunt out the Christians there so that he could destroy this belief that he found to be wrong.
Of course, as we see, God had other plans for Saul: he had chosen him to be his apostle to the Gentiles. And this is another thing that I love about seeing Saul's personality. God picked a person with a perfect personality for the job he had in mind. Saul was a person driven to carry his message far and near. That's exactly the kind of person God wanted, because he wanted his message carried to lands far and near. God didn't pick any person and then mold him into the kind of person he needed. God picked the kind of person he needed and converted him--molded him into the kind of believer he wanted.
God does this with us, too. When he has a job for us to do, he doesn't pick out a job we'll hate. He picks out jobs for us that are things that we are already suited for. Or rather, I should say, he has jobs that need to be done, and he picks us to do them because we are the kinds of people who are suited for those jobs. Or probably even more likely, God planned us and the jobs for each other. And so we will not have to grit our teeth and take on some task that we hate for God. In order to serve God, we will find that we will end up doing something that is just up our alley, like Saul did after he became Paul.
I Chronicles 15
Acts 9:1-9
Focus:
Acts 9:1-2:"Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord's disciples, went to the high priest and applied for letters to the synagogues at Damascus authorizing him to arrest any followers of the new way whom he found, men or women, and bring them to Jerusalem."
It's interesting to me that throughout the Bible, people's personalities remain the same. It's another detail that proves the reality of what we read. These weren't just invented characters; these were real people. Peter, for example, was always ready to throw himself whole-heartedly into things: when he saw Jesus walking on the water, that made him want to do it, too; when he understood why Jesus wanted to wash the disciples' feet, he asked Jesus to wash not just his feet but his whole body; when he was on a boat and he saw Jesus on the shore, he jumped out of the boat and plunged to shore.
Saul (Paul) also shows a consistent personality. What he believes, he believes firmly, and he is so convinced that he wants to go not only to people where he lives, but also to people in other towns, and carry his message there as well. So, before he was a Christian, he was so committed that he got permission to go hunt out the Christians there so that he could destroy this belief that he found to be wrong.
Of course, as we see, God had other plans for Saul: he had chosen him to be his apostle to the Gentiles. And this is another thing that I love about seeing Saul's personality. God picked a person with a perfect personality for the job he had in mind. Saul was a person driven to carry his message far and near. That's exactly the kind of person God wanted, because he wanted his message carried to lands far and near. God didn't pick any person and then mold him into the kind of person he needed. God picked the kind of person he needed and converted him--molded him into the kind of believer he wanted.
God does this with us, too. When he has a job for us to do, he doesn't pick out a job we'll hate. He picks out jobs for us that are things that we are already suited for. Or rather, I should say, he has jobs that need to be done, and he picks us to do them because we are the kinds of people who are suited for those jobs. Or probably even more likely, God planned us and the jobs for each other. And so we will not have to grit our teeth and take on some task that we hate for God. In order to serve God, we will find that we will end up doing something that is just up our alley, like Saul did after he became Paul.
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