In this day, when many saints are awaking to a desire of service, there is a danger of getting off the ground of grace. We are all apt to make the connection between service and glory, instead of seeing that the connection is between grace and glory. The blood is our title to glory, even as it has saved us and redeemed us. I see in the countless multitudes who surround the throne that they are there because of “the blood of the Lamb.”
The servant always hides himself, puts himself aside, that the master may appear; the great thing in any service is to be on guard, lest the servant should appear. Simon Magus gave himself out as some great one, but if we serve according to God’s judgment, it will be very unobtrusive service. Joshua was servant to Moses; he abode in the tabernacle outside the camp (Ex. 33:1111And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. (Exodus 33:11)), but how little prominence he has! Joshua is hid, and Moses is the actor.
Our place of service will always be, in God’s wisdom, the place of trial, though the place of comfort too. So was it with the Lord. He did always the things that pleased the Father, and thus proved His love, but He had to set His face like a flint. Our service is not occasional, but continuous. If we are in the place of servants, it is because we are sons. The ear is to be “opened morning by morning.” Domestic duties are to be taken up as service to the Lord; He is to be glorified in them. The service we mostly fail in is domestic piety. Many would desire more time for serving the Lord. But why not make all we do service to Him. “Ye serve the Lord Christ.”
The principle of our service is love to the Master. Paul says, “Though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all.” I may “go out free,” but “I love my master,” and therefore I will serve them. It is the service of love, and not obligation. We are, it is true, not our own; we are bought with a price; therefore let us glorify God with our bodies and spirits, which are His. But the Lord does not address us with that claim; He says, “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” God loves a cheerful giver, because He is a cheerful giver. Some persons say, Oh, I wish I could serve the Lord more! Well, let your soul enter more deeply into His love, and then you will serve Him. It is impossible to love Him and not to serve Him, but it may be service of a kind which we do not like, because we too often serve to exalt ourselves. The Lord said, “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one toward another.” “Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” The moment I come with a claim, I dampen the mainspring of service; it is by love we are to serve one another. I do believe that this ought to be my feeling; I am a debtor to every saint, because the Lord by His grace has made me free.
Christian Friend, adapted