In Your Living,Who Is Your Life Serving
Philippians 1:21-27 Amplified Bible (AMP)
21For me to live is Christ [His life in me], and to die is gain [the gain of the glory of eternity]. 22If, however, it is to be life in the flesh and I am to live on here, that means fruitful service for me; so I can say nothing as to my personal preference [I cannot choose], 23But I am hard pressed between the two. My yearning desire is to depart (to be free of this world, to set forth) and be with Christ, for that is far, far better; 24But to remain in my body is more needful and essential for your sake. 25Since I am convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and stay by you all, to promote your progress and joy in believing, 26So that in me you may have abundant cause for exultation and glorying in Christ Jesus, through my coming to you again. 27Only be sure as citizens so to conduct yourselves [that] your manner of life [will be] worthy of the good news (the Gospel) of Christ, so that whether I [do] come and see you or am absent, I may hear this of you: that you are standing firm in united spirit and purpose, striving side by side and contending with a single mind for the faith of the glad tidings (the Gospel).
There are things that happen in our lives that should spur us to reflect and ask ourselves some questions. Many times it is hard for us to face the questions or ask them, because it means that we may have to adjust some things in our lives, and I am finding that on a whole people are pretty selfish, and they look out for them above all. I have also found that the world teaches us to serve or to help especially in a sacrificial way is to be seen as weak, a door mat, or to be taken advantage of. As I have looked back over my life and as this year has begun and I have sought the Lord for direction and His plan and will for my life, the question, who has my life been a service to come up? As I looked over my life, I was thankful to see that I had been obedient to serve, but there was still more that God was requiring of me.
If you asked yourself that question, could you provide a clear and concise answer? Could you name someone that you have placed ahead of yourself, and that you have laid down your agenda to help, assist or reach back for. So many of us are saying loudly I won’t help anyone else, or serve anyone else because we have been hurt when we have tried to serve people. Others have allowed the world’s ideology to surface in our lives in the form of “God bless the child that got his own,” or I am going to serve me first before I serve anyone else. I wonder how many times God thought that when we needed Him or how many times Jesus thought that when He faced the cross for us, or how many times the Holy Spirit when He was beckoned by God to step into our situation to save us from something thought the same thing. If God said I am not providing my existences as service for anyone, until I feel satisfied served and taken care of, oh my where would we be? What would our existence resemble if that was how He felt and how He lived?
We are created unto good works; those works include service to God, which will inevitably include service to mankind. It amazes me that we can say we have the heart of God and yet, be more concerned about ourselves then the life, and needs of others. God gave us His best, His only Son; Jesus gave His life for us, and said He did not come to be served but to serve. The Holy Spirit exists to serve, assist, comfort and to teach, the very definition of which He is means to come along side of. Why do we think that we are the only ones exempt from service? We are created to live a life of service, submitted to God. As you look at your life can you honestly say that you have humbled yourself to God to serve Him and whomever He has asked you to? Only He knows for sure, why not ask Him how you are doing?
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