Serving the LORD

“As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Josh. 24:15).

Lots of believers have the above verse hanging on a wall somewhere in their home. These words from Joshua have been engraved on wooden plaques, cast in metal plates, painted on plastic tablets, glazed on ceramic plaques, embroidered on fabric, and hung in homes across our land.

Joshua 24:15 is a great verse, but I sometimes wonder how many of the people who have these words hanging on a wall in their home really know what it means to serve the LORD.

I say that because ’avad, the Hebrew word translated “serve,” means to work, to labor. If we say we will serve the LORD, we are saying we intend to labor for Him. We intend to do some sort of work specifically for Him.

The word ’avad can also mean to worship God in Divine service. However, serving the Lord is far more than attending church once or twice a week, paying tithes, and living a moral life, though all those things are very important. Serving the Lord means actually doing some sort of work for Him.

“But I’m not a preacher, pastor, teacher, or missionary. What sort of work can I do?”

There are many ways to serve the Lord without being a preacher, pastor, teacher, or missionary. If you truly want to serve the Lord, ask Him what He wants you to do. He will open your eyes to all sorts of opportunities to serve Him. But don’t expect Him to immediately transform you into a famous full-time preacher, pastor, teacher, or missionary. He may or may not call you to that sort of service, but I will guarantee you one thing. Any successful, fruitful preacher, pastor, teacher, or missionary started out serving the Lord by doing humble, non-glamorous forms of service - things like cleaning the church building, giving people rides to meetings, doing office work, running errands, or volunteering to help in other practical ways.

Yeshua taught several parables about being faithful stewards. The main point of all those parables is that if we are faithful in the small jobs the Lord gives us, He will give us greater responsibilities, greater jobs to do for Him. The converse is also true. If we are unfaithful in the small jobs the Lord gives us, He will not give us greater jobs to do.

“He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much” (Luke 16:10).

If we help the least of those who are Yeshua’s brethren, we are doing it to Him (Matt. ch. 25). If you want to serve the Lord, it’s not that hard to find something to do for Him. Seek and ye shall find. And “whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might” (Eccl. 9:10).

| DB

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Image: A Heart to Pray and a Mind to Work by Daniel Botkin from his Monochromatic Monotheistic art gallery at DanielBotkin.com. This piece is also the cover art for Daniel’s book by the same title. Visit his SHOP on this website to see all Daniel’s books.