Bible Reading: Psalm 1-3; Acts 16:1-15.
“Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” Psalm 2:11 (KJV)
In explaining, serving the Lord, Jesus Christ himself tells us what it entails. He says in John 12:26 (KJV), “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.”
So serving the Lord means following the teachings of Jesus Christ. And the foundation of Jesus teaching is Love. He summarized this in Matthew 22:37-40 (KJV), “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
In explaining how the love should be exhibited, apostle Paul said in Romans 12:9-18, one should be kindly affectionate, in honour preferring one another, rejoicing in hope and in tribulation, meeting the needs of the saints, bless those who persecute you, condescend to men of low estate and live peaceably with all men as much as it depends on you.
To further explain this, Jesus stated in Matthew 25:35-45, that serving others by meeting their needs is serving him. This is further expatiated by Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 4:8-9. It is noteworthy that serving God should be done with his fear in mind. Thus whether you are meeting the needs of others directly or you are working in a church which is prepared for people to come and worship God, you should ensure you do so with the fear of God. You are to ensure that while serving others, you have the picture of God in mind as if he is the one you are serving. When you do so, you will not look at the state or class of the person rather, you will be focused on the Almighty God.
Serving the Lord with fear also implies ensuring the quality of your service meets the standard for God. Will you give left over food to yourself if the roles were reversed, if not you should not give such left over to the hungry around you. You need to be sure that you provide the quality of goods or services you will normally give to God to the needy you are serving because Jesus said in Matthew 25:40 (KJV), “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” So treat every needy as if you are treating Jesus Christ. This appears difficult in the beginning but with love of Christ, it becomes easy.
Prayer point: Examine how you treat the needy around you and make amend to ensure you treat them like Kings.
Pastor Joel Ezeugo