When we are young, we have energy and strength. This is all good, for the Lord has given it to us, and when it is coupled with faith in Christ and a desire to please Him, this youthful vigor often shows itself in a wish to do something in service for our Lord and Master. Again, this is a good desire, and one that may well spring from real devotedness to the Lord, coupled with a longing to present our bodies “a living sacrifice,” which is our “intelligent service” (Rom. 12:11I 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. (Romans 12:1) JND). However, as in every natural endeavor, there is training needed for that service. This does not, of course, preclude our doing something for the Lord in our younger years, but often the kind of service which the Lord has for us requires more preparation than we realize. Thus it is easy when we are younger to launch out into that for which we are not yet ready.
To be sure, there are those in Scripture who served the Lord in an admirable way even when they were young. We find John the Baptist performing his service as forerunner of our blessed Lord Jesus when he was a young man, and, in fact, he was martyred early in life, probably not more than thirty-one years of age. Yet the Lord Jesus could say of him, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (Matt. 11:1111Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (Matthew 11:11)).
Likewise, we find a young king like Josiah, of whom it is recorded that “when he was yet young, he began to seek after the Lord God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places” (2 Chron. 34:33For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. (2 Chronicles 34:3)). At the tender age of eight he ascended the throne of Judah, and by the age of twenty he was taking serious responsibility in that position. Timothy too was a relatively young man, yet Paul could say of him, “I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state” (Phil. 2:2020For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. (Philippians 2:20)).
Schooling and Training
However, in the main we find a course of schooling and training that preceded the full responsibility which God had for His servants. Moses was in his prime at the age of forty; he was “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds” (Acts 7:2222And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. (Acts 7:22)). Yet when he set out to deliver his people Israel, he went about it in the wrong way, and God sent him into the backside of the desert for forty years, seemingly to do nothing but keep sheep. Yet this was the training that was needed.
Likewise, when the Lord had great things in store for Joseph, He allowed him to be sold as a slave and eventually to end up in prison for quite a few years, before he was elevated to be governor over all the land of Egypt.
David was one of the best kings of Israel and “a man after God’s own heart,” yet the Lord allowed him to be a fugitive, persecuted and hunted by Saul, for a number of years before he was made king. As another has said, “He who was to be used of God to lead His people into a deeper knowledge of Himself must first learn to lean on Him when all others had failed.” David did not become king over Judah until thirty years of age, and he was not king over all Israel for another seven years.
Elisha
Elisha was evidently a successful farmer (1 Kings 19:1919So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. (1 Kings 19:19)), and he was chosen of the Lord to succeed Elijah as the prophet of the Lord. But then the Lord allowed him to be a servant to Elijah for approximately ten years before He took Elijah to heaven in a whirlwind, thus making way for Elisha to take his place as prophet. Elisha must have learned about Elijah’s failure and consequent removal from his place as prophet, yet he was happy to accompany Elijah for a number of years and learn from him.
Timothy
In addition, we find in 1 Timothy 4:12-1612Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. 15Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. 16Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. (1 Timothy 4:12‑16) that Paul impresses upon Timothy the need for a godly walk, as the first thing that would commend him to others. We cannot take responsibility in serving the Lord without first taking heed to the “kingdom of God,” for the expression “the kingdom of God” brings before us a moral state and walk that is in keeping with those who recognize the Lord Jesus as the rightful King. Paul finalizes his instruction to Timothy by saying, “Give heed to thyself and to the teaching; continue in them; for, doing this, thou shalt save both thyself and those that hear thee” (1 Tim. 4:1616Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. (1 Timothy 4:16) JND). We must look after ourselves before we can serve the Lord and be a help to others; we must save ourselves before we can save others. (The word “save” here has the thought of being saved from the power of sin in our Christian lives and from worldly influences; it does not, at least primarily, refer to eternal salvation.)
Worship and Service
Finally, we must remember that throughout the Word of God, worship always comes before service. In the law itself, the first commandments concerned what was due to God; then what was due to man followed. During His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus summarized this same fact, showing that the first commandment concerned what was due to God, while the second brought in what was due to man. When the Lord had blessed Israel with a good harvest in the land of Canaan, they were to bring their firstfruits unto the Lord, and this is connected with worship (Deut. 26:1-111And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; 2That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there. 3And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us. 4And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God. 5And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: 6And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: 7And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labor, and our oppression: 8And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: 9And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. 10And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God: 11And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you. (Deuteronomy 26:1‑11)). It was only after this that tithing was mentioned and the importance of giving to the fatherless, the stranger and the widow.
This same order of worship and then service is found throughout the New Testament. In Hebrews 13:1515By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. (Hebrews 13:15), we are reminded to “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” Then, in the next verse, we are told “to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Heb. 13:1616But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. (Hebrews 13:16)). Peter tells us that we are now “an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:55Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5)), while later in the same chapter he tells us that we are “a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:99But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (1 Peter 2:9)). Again, the order is first worship, then service.
It is of paramount importance, then, to learn to be a worshiper first. Without being a true worshiper, one cannot be an acceptable servant. Our hearts and minds may become enamored by service, especially if others are actively engaged in it, and we may suppose that we can raise our spiritual state by getting involved. Seldom does this happen; all too often it will result either in our seeking to salve our conscience with one frantic activity after another, or else in a spirit of complaint, as happened to Martha when she felt overworked in serving. Before we can serve effectively, we must be in communion with the Lord.
Training then is very important, and varies with each one; with some the Lord imposes a longer training period than with others. It is important not to resent this, but rather to submit to the Lord’s tuition for us, in order that we might serve Him better. God is a God of quality, not quantity, and it is better to serve well for a short time than to seek to serve before we are ready.
W. J. Prost