Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 3, 4, 5, Luke 14:18-35.
“When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him a reward for his tidings:” – 2 Samuel 4:10 (KJVS)
A number of people work these days to please their supervisors instead of fulfilling the purpose for their engagement. It is so common that you find this even in churches. In fact, a number of people work in churches to please their pastors or senior pastors rather than to please God. A similar situation is what happened to a man who claimed to have killed Saul and therefore brought his crown to David expecting to please him and therefore get rewarded. David himself gave account of what happened in 2 Samuel 4:10 (KJVS), “When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him a reward for his tidings:”
A number of workers also engage in eye service like this, by assassinating the character of their colleagues or immediate supervisors in order to gain the favour of the boss. Those whose characters are assassinated may not recover easily from such acts. Others go to the extreme of cheapening themselves by having affairs with their bosses with a view to pleasing them and currying undeserved favour. And God’s standard concerning this is well stated by Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:5-6 (KJVS), “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; [6] Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;”
So in all your actions, what should be uppermost in your mind is whether it is in the will of God and that God detests actions taken to please the world. 1 John 2:16-17 (KJVS) says, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. [17] And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” It is therefore important to always remember that no favour of man can be compared to spending eternity in hell. Hence Mark 8:36 (KJVS), “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
Action point: Stop every form of eye-service from today and focus on God whatever the cost!
Bro. Biodun Oyapero