Serving Jehovah...

"And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, 

will say to him when he has come in from the field,

 "Come at once and sit down to eat"? " Luke 17:7

     Servants serve. We all know this, yet we often act as if, when it is ourself dressed in the servant apron, we ought to be serve and then afterward, be served. 

     When a master hires a servant to do work for him, he has hired and promised pay according to work, not according to personal relation. There is no personal side to it, it is a working relationship strictly. The servant is not to expect a seat at the table, nor is the master to feel obligated to give an invitation.

     Yet in our service to Jehovah, He, as Lord and Master, would have us to labor in His work, and afterwards to enter into His rest--a seat reserved for us within His kingdom.

What a good Lord! Having promised to His servants undeserved reward.

We do what is our duty to do…He redeemed us and in return has commissioned us to bear witness of Himself to the lost world; simple…so small in light of all He has one for us. Our Lord paid for us, to be His own, and He then promises reward to those who faithfully labor before Him. 

     Does all of this not cause you to scratch your head? Does all of this not cause you to want to adore such a Lord?

This analogy paints a picture of an earthly master's relation to a servant, to parallel and define the unique and beautiful reality of our heavenly Master's relation to we, His servants.

He paid for us, He has given us work to do, but He has also woven into the tasks He asks of us a personal relation. Hebrews tells us that we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who was tempted in every way, but without sin; One who understands our frailty as creator in human form. He has related to us, and He has called us. 

Nothing our Lord ever asks of us will be required without the personal relational provision.

When a servant of the Lord walks in obedience to His commands, there is certain provision for the task: In our weaknesses, He shows forth strength. In our fears, His perfect love casts out. In our failures, He redeems. In our confusion, He is peace. His grace is sufficient for each task He asks of His servants.

So what is our place in all of this? We are to serve Him with abandonment. We are to do what He asks for His glory and for the betterment of others, expecting nothing in return, but thanking Him for all that we have already received. 

We received the fulness up front…Christ has given us life in Himself; our every need is satisfied in Thee. We have been freed and given much, that we may now serve much; looking unto the rest to come, not seeking such in this short life.

We serve a gracious Lord, giving grace upon grace to those within His fields. Let us not grow weary in the harvesting, but let us collect and give out, that we may rest eternally in the life to come.