S133P6 – Words to live by: the duty of service
Lk. 17:7-10
Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, “Come at once and recline at table”? Will he not rather say to him, “Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink”? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.”
I spent a large portion of my time waking with the Lord with a certain attitude regarding my service to him. I professed my desire to honor God with my obedience because He deserves our obedience, which is good. However, I also began to receive teachings indicating that I could expect certain results from my obedience. For example, I often was challenged to give what I could not afford to give, and I was told each time that obedient giving would return to me some multiplication of what I gave. I swallowed this principle and gave, then I awaited the multiplication that never came. I started to expect God to do for me whenever I did for him. After serving him, I expected him to serve me or thank me in some way.
The servant-master relationship that Jesus illustrates here reminds me of the child-parent relationship. When I was a kid, I expected to receive something when I did my chores. I thought I deserved some kind of reward for obeying my parents. I did not view obedience as something that my parents deserved for free as their right, but that is the way I should have viewed it. In the same way, we must obey God because He deserves obedience, and that good service is not something He must purchase in some way. We do not barter with him. We do not view obedience as an option or something we choose to do only if and when we receive a certain payment. When we serve God with the expectation that He will repay us with service, we are doing nothing more than trying to manipulate him.
If we survey our past, it is likely we will be able to identify times when we did something for God then waited for what we would get from him in return. Whether your service is giving money or letting someone stay in your home or serving others by discipling them, we must view everything we do as service to God in the manner Jesus indicates here. It is simply our duty to serve God. When we are finished, we have no expectation to be served in return. We simply gladly move forward with continuing our service to him. He is the end of our service, not ourselves. Father, help us to serve You out of duty in obedience without the expectation of being served in return.