The Secret to Contentment Part 2-Born to Serve

Last week’s message focused on the secret to true contentment being trust in Jesus Christ who saves us, obedience to His commands because we love Him, and making His Kingdom the overriding passion in our lives.

However, the question may arise: How exactly does one make Jesus’ Kingdom your passion? This week’s message seeks to explore this question. (Matt 6:19-34)

Making Jesus’ Kingdom your passion involves making His mission the priority and central focus of your existence. We are to seek the lost and erring in the same way that the Saviour sought them i.e. with a heart of compassion. The fulfillment of the Great Commission should override your desire for wealth, prestige or status in this world. Let God take care of you, as you focus on serving Him  by taking care of those He loves and gave His life for. (Matt 28:19-20)

There is no career more rewarding than that of being a minister of Christ. It is indeed the highest privilege and calling. Most of us spend at least eight hours at our places of work, but this is no excuse to leave God’s calling on your life unfulfilled. Your place of work is your mission field – don’t wait until you retire to labour for the Master; rather do it now in the days of your youth and vigour when you can offer Him the best years of your life in humble service for His Kingdom. In ministering to the needs of others by tending to their spiritual, emotional and physical needs, you will gain an audience for your promotion of the Gospel of our Lord. The days spent at your work place where you used to complain and experience monotony will be revitalized as you gain new purpose in working for the Master. In His employ, you will find peace and contentment as never before! (1 Tim 4:12; 6:6-12, Lam 3:27, Jer 22:21)

God created us in His image and likeness. When Jesus walked this earth, He revealed His character to be that of a servant leader. Therefore this means that we were created for service! When Simon Peter’s mother-in-law was healed by Jesus, the first thing she did was to arise and wait on the Lord. In the same manner, Christ has brought us into His Kingdom to serve others and to worship Him. In doing so, we will find rest for our souls, for we will then have exchanged our burdens for His yoke of service which is “easy and light”. (Matt 8:14-15; 11:28-30, John 13)

This quiet contentment is evidenced in the life of Paul the Apostle, when as he languished in a damp prison cell, all he asked for was his coat, books and parchments.The degree of contentment you experience is directly proportional to the amount of “dying to self” that you do. Contentment stems from having a meaningful purpose –Jesus is our reason for living. He is our purpose, His mission and passion, ours too!

True Worship P4-Walking in the Dust of the Rabbi

One day, I saw a bumper sticker which read: “Exercise daily-walk with the Lord…” This seems like an apt topic to finish off our series on true worship. What does it mean to “walk with the Lord”? Your walk with the Lord is your relationship with Him. The way you worship will largely determine the way you walk with Him. Are you running ahead of Him, or are you so far behind that you can’t seem Him anymore?

An ancient Jewish Rabbinical blessing goes something like this: “May you walk in the dust of your Rabbi!” To walk in someone’s dust means you have to be walking just behind that person i.e. following close on his heels. Jesus explained this to His disciples in John 13:16 when He said that no servant is greater than his Lord. You cannot walk next to the Rabbi for you will never be His equal. You cannot run ahead of Him because He alone can lead the way as you journey through life’s uncharted territory. True worship comes in taking the posture of discipleship by following close on the Rabbi’s heels; He is the light and without Him you will be walking in darkness. Let Him light up the road that lies ahead so that you can pass safely. (John 8:12, John 1:9, 2Pet 1:17-19, Ps 119:105)

We know all about reverence in the sanctuary and bringing gifts to the altar. These are important aspects of true worship. However, true worship is not situational-it does not occur only in the sanctuary. The Psalmist echoes it perfectly in Ps 63 when he says that his longing to worship God grows because of his personal encounter with Him in the sanctuary (Ps 63:1-2). His sanctuary experience translates into a longing to shadow the Lord, “following hard after Him” (v8). Sadly, in many churches there is a lack of emphasis on this crucial aspect of true worship. If our worship is not revolutionizing and transforming our lives and making us more like Christ, then it is not true worship!

There is an old saying: “By beholding, you are changed.” I believe the Bible echoed this sentiment long before the secular author of this saying. In 2 Cor 3:18 it states that by beholding the glory of God, we are transformed by His Spirit into His image and likeness. How is the glory of God revealed to us? It is through the life of Christ, the visible representation of the invisible God, that the glory is revealed! Therefore, we must behold the life of Christ and meditate upon its scenes. Only then can we be changed. Only then can our worship be true, faithful and meaningful not just to us, but to the watching world as well! We can no longer pay lip service and pretend to be “holy” in church yet live our lives any way we please as soon as we leave the sanctuary. Those who desire to truly worship God and attain a place of honour in His Kingdom must be closest to the Rabbi. His yoke must become their yoke, His passion their passion and His work their work! (Matt 11:29)

Being close to the Rabbi means being totally covered by the dust from His sandals. Our lives must be modeled on the life of Christ. Let us take our worship to the streets-let us walk in the dust of our Rabbi, Jesus Christ!

1Jn 2:6  He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.