Serve God with Joy! (Rejoice in the Lord-Day 4)
OPENING PRAYER:
Dear Lord, when darkness overwhelms us, pull us up by our bootstraps and remind us – “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning,” (Psalm 30:5b). Our greatest joy comes from loving and serving you.
"My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, four months more and then the harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.” John 4:34-36 NIV
REFLECT:
The body of Christ, in action, is an amazing thing. When one member goes down…others rise to help the fallen soul. You see, God has put within each one of us a desire to serve. To the point that serving brings us joy. Why does serving bring us joy? It’s rather simple…we all want to have purpose and we all want to serve the Lord and serve his people. This is something that God has put into every one of us as believers. That is where fulfillment comes from and the joy that it brings. I have seen this in action many times.
I lead a ministry where groups come together to make lunches for the homeless of Wichita once a month. When the group gets together to assemble these lunches, there is great energy! I don’t hear people talking about life’s major problems or the difficulties they are facing. The conversation tends to center around what the homeless are like who we are making lunches for and what can they do to help them, perhaps in other ways than by just providing food? Does that mean that no one in these groups has troubles of their own? No, but it means that their focus is on others. When we serve and work to meet the needs of others, we leave ourselves less time to fret, worry and be concerned about our individual circumstances. After all, God will take care of our needs, “And God will meet all our needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 4:19, NIV).
APPLY:
Do you struggle to find joy in your life? Do you have any commitments of service to others you are a part of? What ministry role within the church do you fill? Again, as members of the body of Christ, the Lord has a plan and a place for each one of us. Until we step into that role, we will wrestle with unfulfillment, discontentment and lack joy, because we know our joy comes from serving God. Most often service to God is manifested by serving the body of Christ. So, remember, God does not need you to focus your efforts on worry for yourself and to concern yourself for what tomorrow holds, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own,” (Matthew 6:34, NIV). Make a plan for serving God! There is joy in serving him!!
CLOSING PRAYER:
Father, remind us of your plan for us, to use us to build your kingdom, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:10, NIV, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” May we find joy in fulfilling your purposes in our lives! Amen.
CONTINUED READING:
Psalm 126:5-6, 100:1-3