There is a burden that has been set upon man, it was placed upon the first man Adam, our Lord Jesus knew this burden, and it has been placed in every individual that has ever been born. Only Jesus Christ knew how to bear this burden well, and He offered to us the way to do the same, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matt. 11:29)
The burden is to serve Almighty God, in perfect harmony with His will, in accordance to the plan that He has for everything that He has created, all creation serves the will of God. It is an incredible thought, to know that the Most High has given to those of His creation, those with eternal souls, the ability to deny Him, to seek for ourselves our own path. Satan did it, (Isaiah 14:14) Adam followed suit, (Gen. 3:6) and each of us since the moment we became self-aware have done the same, we have made the conscious decision as to whom, or what, we will serve. This burden of servitude is ingrained in each of us, in a strange sort of way, in this we have little choice, even if we decide to spend a life only serving ourselves, who we make our master is who we will serve. This may be hard to hear, but more people will serve themselves, those who have made themselves the gods of their lives, serve better than some who call Christ Lord serve Him. All that they can avail themselves to they will, they hear the voice of their own needs and desires, and they are quick to answer that voice, little hesitation enters into their lives, what they can manage to bring into their existence, they will accomplish.
Those who have chosen a false god, certain religious organizations that demand works to be done by their members, have great zeal at times to perform those tasks. They hold little back, for the greater the work, the greater the reward, a facsimile of the pattern of the world, set against the backdrop of rewards most generally offered when the participant leaves this world. The promises are of course hollow, but there are millions who have been deceived in this manner, the form of punishment is a great persuader. The burden to serve was placed in us by God, and its purpose is clear, to serve Him and Him alone, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” (Exo. 20:3) but it is the interpretation of who our Lord is that causes that servitude to stray from its intent, the God that the born-again believer serves, it is He that is God, and His Christ is our Lord. (1 Cor. 15:57) It has been said many times that if there were no God, it would be necessary to invent one, and invent many we have. Satan himself will show himself to be god one day soon, (2 Thess. 2:4) and the world will wonder after him.
Who we choose to serve in this life has been left entirely up to each of us, no god, no idol, no surrogate for our servitude is chosen for us, we have free will. The extent of our service is the same, we are allowed to serve as little or as much as we please, and herein is where the followers of Christ err greatly. Parts of their lives are dedicated to Christ part of the time, most generally for a large part of them an hour or so on Sunday morning. We serve fully only what we trust fully, and for many, our Lord must prove Himself trustworthy in nearly each circumstance, each instant of doubt requires new proof of that trust, and it is we who determine if it is enough.
In the Book of Ecclesiastes we are given the purpose for a man’s life, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” (12:13) There is no doubt to the truth of Micah 6:8 “And what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Serving is a burden for many who call Jesus Christ Lord, His commandments to them are grievous, they feel as if they must perform in a certain way to stay in the good graces of our Lord, and so they trade love for works, the fear of punishment over the joy of being chosen to serve. Our adversary of course enjoys getting involved in these supposed challenges, encouraging the believer to slack off just a small amount, to let down his guard occasionally, to not be overly concerned, “You are saved, He loves you, don’t worry about it.” The truth that we all serve someone has been established, the truth of who we should serve is undeniable, the final question than would be, to what extent have you decided to serve.
Can you differentiate between works done thru you by the Holy Spirit, and those that will be burned up on your final day, between those you have done willingly and those you felt compelled to do for other reasons. Those who serve Christ are to serve Him for no other reason than because they love Him, trying to repay Him for what He did on the cross for us is ridiculous in the extreme, thinking that He will love you more if you work harder is just as ridiculous. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Heb. 11:6)
There is no follower of Christ who follows only because he is supposed to, those who serve our Lord serve Him willingly, with our whole hearts, not questioning His commands, but obeying because He first loved us. Always remember, when God looks at us, He expects to see the image of His Son, the amount of you that is visible in that image is the part of you that has not yet committed itself to His service.
