1.
The humblest service never forgotten.
CHRIST serves His people with unwearied patience; yet how few of His daily acts of kindness are remembered with love and thanksgiving! But He will never forget the simplest act of service rendered to Him; He will reward all such acts in eternity. “Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.”
2.
Service to God’s servants, a sweet savor to God.
When the apostle Paul was in prison in Rome, he was in sore need. Serving him in prison, where he was placed for his Lord’s sake, was an act well-pleasing to God; and thus does he describe the token of love sent to him by the Philippians through Epaphroditus : “The things sent from you,” he says, were “an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.” What an encouragement for us who contribute to the need of suffering and persecuted people of God!
3.
Service to Christ’s people, a personal love-token to Him.
No service rendered to Christ is more hallowed than that of caring for His suffering and afflicted people. In feeding them, we give food to Christ, as it were; in visiting them, we visit Him. He will say to those who thus show their love to Him, in the day of His reward-giving: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.”
4.
The noblest gift we can give to God.
We are asked to give to God in the light of His gifts to us. He has given us His Son; He has given us of His Spirit; of Him is the gift of eternal life, justification, peace. As we view His gifts and rejoice in His favours, the Holy Spirit, through the apostle, thus speaks to us: “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”