Monthly Devotion - September 2023
READY TO PAY THE PRICE TO SERVE GOD
“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me." (John 12:26 NIV)
Many Christians still do not realize that after we become disciples
of Christ, our main calling is to serve God and others by carrying out
specific tasks as He wills. The Lord Jesus Christ made us new human beings
for the purpose of serving Him. And He changes and refines each of us
to serve Him in a certain, unique way. Nothing under heaven happens by
chance and is insignificant before God. Man was originally formed for
His purpose. God never does anything without a clear and concrete purpose.
He also never waste something for something that is not efficient. Nor
would He give us abilities, interests, talents, gifts, personality, and
experiences of life, if He did not intend for us to use them to His glory.
“For all things are from Him, and through Him, and to Him” (Romans
11:36 a). For that we need to recognize and understand the factors that
shape our lives. We must be ready to pay the price to be able to find
God's will for the purpose of our life now on earth and to come in heaven.
We were not created just to use and spend energy and all the resources
available on this earth, but we have all been placed by God on this earth
to make a contribution. He wants us as His chosen people to do something
as our gratitude and appreciation to God, the Creator of the heavens and
the earth and everything in them. And what we do can be summed up in one
word, “service”. Over the past months, we have contemplated
and learned a lot about how we as His disciples can grow to be mature
and become like the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus said, "It is enough
for a disciple if he is like his teacher and for a servant if he is like
his master" (Matt. 10:25 a) and then He also said "just as the
Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a
ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). The service we do for God and others
not only pleases God, but also processes us and purifies our motivation
as disciples of God so that we can become people with the heart of servants
like Christ.
In September-October 2023, we will explore the importance of being mature
servants of God and ready to pay the price to fulfill the call of service
in these end times. Service is the ultimate goal of our journey to become
His true disciples. So important is this aspect of the ministry of believers,
that the Lord Jesus himself emphasizes it in our guide verse for this
month: “Whoever serves me must follow me and where I am, there my
servant will also be. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor him”
(John 12:26). Let’s become a congregation that God loves and ready
to pay the price to serve God, so that we can serve Him as fully as possible
for the glory of His name. God longs for those of you who have not yet
taken part in ministry work to be able to move forward to become God's
servants in these last days. Amen!
By Pastor Silwanus Obadja M.Th.
...Monthly
Devotion - August 2023