Whom Do You Serve?
Today, our pastor taught from the book of Jeremiah. There was one thing he said that has pierced my heart: “It’s not so much about the evil we face as it is the God we serve.” So I am asking myself, “Where is my focus? What is my priority?”
It is easy to get lulled into believing that Earth is my home, but when that happens I am likely to become self-preserving and self-promoting. In the face of all that is going wrong in our society and in our government, it is tempting to focus on keeping the evil at bay.
However, this is not my home. I am a citizen of Heaven, and I am so-journing here at the behest of my God and my King. Whatever is happening in this place He has positioned me, I am to be about the Father’s business. So what does that look like?
He did not command me to have a particular political view or cultural preference. He commanded me to love God with my whole heart, mind and will, and to love my neighbor as myself. His business is the advancement of His Kingdom of love, and so I am here by the sovereign grace of God to lay down my self interest, my opinions, and my preferences and follow Him in His pursuit of men’s hearts.
I am not a victim of other people’s choices. I am not a victim of unrighteous institutions or despotic governments. God is sovereign over the affairs of men, and there no thing happening in the world today that alarms or dismays Him. He is absolutely and completely in charge and in control, and He is my refuge. He is also my Father, Whom I desire to represent and to please. I represent Him out of my knowledge of Him, which is disclosed to me in His Word and whispered to my heart in times of prayer. His character is my plumb line, and it is His character that defines my posture, my place, and my purpose.
Heavenly Father, I pray as the Psalmist prayed: “Create in me a clean heart, God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach wrongdoers Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You.” (Psalm 51:10-13 NASB) I repent, Father, and turn from my own way, my own ideas, and my own preferences. You are my priority, Lord, and when I see You as You truly are, I see everything else from that perspective. You rule and overrule. You have ordained that Your work of love in my heart should be a light in the darkness and that Your character maturing in my life would be as salt in an unsavory world. Have Your own way with me and with those whom I love. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Until next week, fellow so-journer, remain in His faithfulness and serve Him with your whole heart.