Thoughts on Service

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 8
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In the Epistle to the Philippians, the one great object of the Holy Spirit is to make known Christ to us as the servant. He does this in order to produce in us true-hearted service. God has His own way of doing this, and it can only be through His Son. He wants to endear His Son to us, and so He associates us with Him in service down here, as He has associated us with Him in the glory above. It is fellowship with Christ that makes us true servants and gives us power.
We must be sons before we can be servants, and the only thing that can enable us to discharge any service acceptably is the power we get through looking at Jesus—in knowing what we are and what we have in Him. All other energies may seem to lift us up, but they do not fit us for service. God would always have us remember what we are in His grace. I belong to the risen Jesus, and with Him and in Him I share all given glory. And nothing fits me for serving or gives me power to walk in obedience like the apprehending of my association with a glorified Christ. Nothing gives me power to abstain from evil other than realizing my union with Him who once was dead but is now exalted in heaven.
The more sensibly the Holy Spirit keeps us in the love of Christ, the stronger we shall become. That which strengthens us is what we see in Jesus and get from looking at Him. Here in Philippians, the Holy Spirit is exhibiting Jesus as the servant, that those who are dear to Him may follow the same activities of love and service.
Bible Treasury, 3:377, adapted