The amount of service that you offer to the Lord in your life is directly proportional to the amount that you love Him, not how much you may say you love Him. Little action, little love.
It is one of the reasons I believe I mention those whose main service to Him is no more than church attendance, who show up each Sunday morning, perform the required routine, and then head back out into the world, leaving Him at the church, so to speak. It is why many may profess that they believe in God to others, but falter when asked, “Who do you say Jesus Christ is?”
I do not profess to know the standard that the Lord has set upon these individuals, but I do know what Matthew 10:33 says, “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”
Those we love we apply Philippines 2:3 in our lives to. “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” not only those we love, but our neighbors and even our enemies. “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?” (Matt. 5:46) A perhaps harsh truth to place here, but truth nonetheless.
How much we love the Lord is shown by our actions that are meant to glorify God, done through us by the Holy Spirit with, as it were, our blessings, our obedience. Again, perhaps it is in accord or association with Luke 7:47, “Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.” Spoken to the woman at that moment but implied toward us all. We are to die to self, (Gal. 2:20) we are to count everything in our lives that does not in some way exalt the name of Jesus Christ as a waste of time, completely against what most who call themselves Christians today will agree with. They believe there should be some “me time,” some moments in life when they are not the slave of the Lord, a vacation from service, if you will.
If we would apply 2 Corinthians 10:5 here, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” And Proverbs 3:6, we would find that statement of “free time,” to be invalid. “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” (Psalm 139:7)
If there is one thing I have learned in this walk it is that the Lord does not give any break times, no vacations, no days off from being a servant, it is a full time responsibility placed upon us. The difficulty, if you like is that darn free will thing, we have been given the option to obey or disobey. The Lord God is a loving, good God, but He is a hard taskmaster, He expects us to be like His Son, He expects us to be Holy, to die to every desire we have save for those that exalt His name.
There are those that serve Him out of a sort of personal fear, many religious organizations fall into this category, there are those that feel obligated, as if the commandments must be adhered to because they are just that, commandments. And there are those who serve out of love with no care to the rewards promised, with no concern to what others may say about them, their only thoughts are to be pleasing to the One they call Master. I have mentioned this many times before, and it is always worth repeating, “There are no rewards in heaven for good intentions,” and I would add this to it, love, when not acted upon, is nothing more than a good intention.
How much you love Jesus Christ, how precious He is to you is shown in how much of you, you will offer to Him. There was much more than the life of His Flesh given on the cross that day, He received the punishment that was reserved for you. What is offered to us can be rejected, it can be counted as a lite thing, it can be expressed in the heart, but if it is not acted upon, it is only feigned.
