Thursday, September 17, 2009
Joy in Serving
Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
—Psalm 100:2-3
I want to let you in on a little secret: I think it is fun to serve God. Now, I am not saying that it isn't hard to serve Him. I am not saying that it isn't challenging. I am not saying there aren't times when it is depleting. But I am saying that I derive great joy from it. And by serving God, I don't mean preparing or delivering a message. I mean being used by God in any way that He would see fit to use me. I count it a great privilege to be called by God and to be able to represent Him. And if you have discovered this, then you know what I am talking about. There is a joy in it. And when you serve Him, you sense His blessing on you.
One of my top ten favorite films is the 1981 movie, Chariots of Fire. I loved it. It is the story, among other things, of Eric Liddell, a young runner from Scotland who was a great athlete and competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics. Also a committed Christian, Liddell struggled for quite some time with the decision as to whether he should run or whether he should preach. Ultimately, he went to the mission field. But in the film, there is a scene in which his sister was pressing him to abandon his career in running and start his missionary work immediately. Liddell responded in his classic Scottish brogue, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure."
Do you feel God's pleasure in what you are doing? Are you living your life well? If not, then start today by doing what He has called—and created—you to do.
Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
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