DON'T SERVE GOD!!!

Let me ask you a question, “Did you know that God does not want us to serve Him?”

I know what you are thinking, “Yes He does I am supposed to be a servant of Jesus Christ! I mean doesn’t Paul call himself a servant of Christ in Romans 1:1, Philemon 1:1, and Titus 1:1?” Well the answer is, yes he does call himself a servant of Christ. But how do we understand this title of Paul against this statement from Paul:
Acts 17:24-25 (NIV)
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.

How can Paul call himself a servant of Christ and then turn around and say that God is not served by human hands? I think that it all comes down to empowerment:

You see God does not need anything from us. He is not needy or in want. He does not need us to accomplish His will – He is all-powerful. He does not need us to inform Him of anything – He is all knowing. He does not need us for fellowship – He is complete within Himself (He was not lonely for the eternity before He created us). No, God does not NEED us for anything. To think that in some way God needs us to serve Him as though He lacked anything is to place ourselves in a position of power that is not allowed in the scriptures. Remember: he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything…

On the other hand it is clear that we are all called to be servants of God. But I am a servant not because of what I bring to the endeavor, but because of what God has done in me and what He wants to do through me. In my own power I am incapable of serving God (or really participating in anything of eternal value). But because of Christ in me I am empowered to do anything that my Lord might command of me.

So it is not as though I serve my Lord the way that I sometimes serve my family – with a shout of exasperation, “I have to do EVERYTHING around here” (which, if you know my incredible wife, you know that I am COMPLETELY overstating the situation). No, I serve as one who has been empowered by the creator God to participate in endeavors that would be completely out of my reach if left to my own strength. I serve as one who GETS to say, “I cannot believe that I have been given the incredible opportunity to participate in something so divine!” In this scenario God, and God alone, receives all glory because God and God alone has created, empowered, and brought to completion the task!

So today I challenge you to look for how you might participate in the divine; how you might be empowered by our loving Lord to do be involved in the miraculous. Our Lord stands ready to do the miraculous in you and through you – do not miss your chance!!

Lord, thank you that you allow me to participate in your will not because you need me to, but because you love me so much that you give me the gift of involvement. I pray Lord that I would not miss out on the incredible opportunities that you will set in my path today so that I might bring you glory and my heart might be enthralled!!