As For Me and My Household, We Will Serve the Lord

As Christians we struggle to break free from the chains of the world. We try by our own strength to live past the lifestyles, the habits, the clouded belief systems. We look for acceptance, over accepting the sovereignty of Christ. We look to define what is right, instead of doing what is right by Him who made us. We place the world before God in our lives. Whether it be our personal satisfaction, our work, our habits, our hobbies. Maybe even our good works over our service in our Lord. The truth of the matter is that an idol is an idol, whether it is the Golden Calf of the Israelites or the parts of our life that we bow down to and worship instead of the Lord our God. Joshua said, “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

What does this mean? We are called, commanded by our God, to put aside false idols. We shall not bow down to anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. Jesus tells us to “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” A servant is to obey his master's command and carry out his master's work. At its simplest, we are to live our lives the way God would live our lives. We are to love our brothers and sisters as God loves them. We are to do all things as unto the Lord. The song “Lifesong” by Casting Crowns puts it perfect:

Lord I give my life
A living sacrifice
To reach a world in need
To be Your hands and feet

So may the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You

Every work of our body, every word of our mouths is to be to His Glory, to His gain. Not because He needs us, but because we need Him. Because we need to center our hearts, our minds, our works, and our lives around Him. Paul tells those in Philippi, “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Fellowship is serving beside one another in the deepest fulfillment of the work of Christ's church even, or especially, at the cost of our own worldly satisfaction. It is being the left and right hands of Christ's body together extending into the world. Working in the world to fulfill His command. Doing as He wants us to do, instead of what the world says we should do. Defining ourselves by Christ and in Him alone. Together, let's reach our arms out, touch those who need to feel His tender embrace. Let's take up His cross, carry His message of salvation into the world, into our community, into our lives. To His honor and glory!

His Joyful Servant