Articles
Are you Ready to Serve?
One of the great mistakes we make is asking God to do for us what God wants us to do
for Him. We confuse roles. And many of us get stuck spiritually right there.
We are called to pray about everything, but there comes a time when praying can be a
form of disobedience, laziness, or negligence. We can’t just pray like it depends on God; we also
must work like it depends on us.
When everything is said and done, God won’t say, “Well said, good and faithful servant.”
He won’t say, “Well thought,” “well planned,” or even “well prayed.” There is only one
commendation He will give: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:14-28)
Maybe it’s time to quit praying about the events at church and actual volunteer to do the
work. Quit praying for the friend you hurt and make a phone call. Don’t just complain to God
about your coworker; actually pray for them and talk to them about God.
There are aspects of the Gospel that are puzzling and difficult to understand. But our
problems are not centered around the things we don’t understand, but rather in the things we do
understand, the things we could not possibly misunderstand. We usually know perfectly well
what we are supposed to do ... but we don’t want to do it.
The Bible has a great deal to say about servanthood because the central theme of the
Bible is the Servant of all —Jesus Christ. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). When we give Jesus Christ
His rightful place as Lord of our lives, His lordship will be expressed in the way we serve others
(Mark 9:35; 1 Peter 4:10; John 15:12-13). How can we demonstrate love for God? Our love for
God will be expressed in our love for others. “For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus
Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5). ~ Brad
Tolbert
