2 Samuel 23:24-24:25 / Acts 3 / Psalm 123 / Proverbs 16:21-23
We’re all trying to “get ahead” in this “dog eat dog” world. We’re taught to “look out for number one”. We’re taught that everyone else can take care of themselves. The problem with thinking this way is it causes us to fight against one another, or even to push one another down so we can be lifted up. None of this is living the way Jesus taught us. However, even before we consider the one-anothering of scripture, we must be fixed in our dependence on God.
Psalm 123:2 TPT The way I love you is like the way a servant wants to please his master, the way a maid waits for the orders of her mistress. We look to you, Our god, with passionate longing to please you and discover more of your mercy and grace.
Do we look to God? Or do we look to people, trying to please them and gain favor from them? If we look to God for mercy (favor), we wouldn’t need to look to people at all except to discover how we may serve them. And if we went about life this way, no one would have any need!
The description in Charles Spurgeon’s Treasury of David (a full commentary of the Psalms) is beautifully descriptive of the process described in verse 2. In times past, servants were often employed by masters of houses to help with everyday tasks. Often these servants were trained to respond not just to spoken words, but to hand gestures. They were required to keep their eyes trained every moment upon those directing them. They would have been scolded if they had missed a cue.
While God doesn’t scold us for missing a cue from Him, whether heard or seen in the things around us, we will most certainly miss opportunities for God to pour his favor on us if we’re not carefully aware. Once you are born from above and your entire heart and soul belong to God, you want nothing more than to please Him, to make Him smile. And this is not about serving some hard person; this is about a love relationship. We want to please Him because we love Him. And we love Him because He loved us first.
So, never think about serving God as a drudgery. The rewards of relationship with Him are far too great for that! Serving Him is an honor and will fill our lives with such a rich sweetness that we’ll become almost addicted to the beauty of what He brings to us.
I’ve been loving Jesus since I was 5 years old, and I’m 58 now. My love for Him grows stronger, not weaker. For all I know of Him, I have so much more yet to learn. I wake up every morning excited to read His Word and discover something new about His beautiful nature and character.
If you don’t yet love Him this way, there is still time to join me on this amazing adventure. I promise your life will never be the same! Who said serving Jesus is boring! It has been anything but boring for me these past 53 years. It’s been one new discovery after another, and I’m sure there are many more treasures I have yet to unearth.
Today, I’m going to watch for Him – to see what beauty and favor He might want to share with me. He loves you and me more than words could ever describe!
