“If any one serve Me, let him follow Me.... Him shall the Father honor” (John 12:26 JND).
The natural desire of a heart redeemed by “the precious blood of Christ” is to serve the Saviour. It is not an issue of doing great service, but of a great desire to serve. He alone is worthy and worthy to be served acceptably (2 Cor. 5:9). True service is not a matter of gift (though He does give gifts for the blessing of the assembly; Eph. 4:8), nearly as much as it is a matter of true heart-love for Christ.
There are two saints found in Scripture whose lives provide examples of two essential moral characteristics needed in all Christian service.
The first, Enoch, has little recorded of any service for God during his life span of 365 years (Gen. 5:21-24). But he did one crucial thing, without which no other service would have value: “He walked with God” (Gen. 5:22). Oh! how vital is daily fellowship with the One whom we seek to serve! Walking with another may not seem as though it requires much effort or energy. But to walk with God requires the energy of faith and the effort of love. This is a most precious service to render to the One who stands “at the door, and knock[s],” desiring our company in order to enjoy fellowship!
In Mark 14:8 we find one who, because of love, gave everything. And perhaps this dear soul alone, at that time, had the sense of her blessed Lord’s coming sacrifice. There was little else that she could do to serve, but the Lord Jesus so valued her service that He said to those who were criticizing, “She hath done what she could.” Ah! dear fellow-believer, could you or I desire any greater service than that which could draw forth such words of approval from the lips of our Lord Jesus?
May the foundation of all that we seek to be and to do as believers be based on these two wonderful services: walking with God and doing what we can, in love for our Lord.
J. Kaiser (adapted)