Serving The Lord

“…and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service.”

– Numbers 17:7

Every Christian is given a spiritual gift. That gift is to be used for the service of others. God told Aaron, “I myself have taken your brethren the Levites.” God chose the servants and gave them the gifts to accomplish His work. The people were to be thankful for Aaron and his faithful service. In turn, the tribe of Levi was to be faithful in service as they represented the Lord and pointed people to Him. This should always be the way of things.

God was establishing a new ministry and needed those who would faithfully serve in this role. Aaron and the Levites had been chosen for this ministry. It was time for them to move on to the next season of their lives. It was not something they aspired to or planned. God gave it to them. The budding of Aaron’s staff was proof positive that the Lord called him. The Lord called his work a gift, a view that Aaron and the Levites must always keep to serve with the right heart.

When Jesus calls us, and our gifting and placement are made sure, how should we approach this next season of service? The work we are given may not have been part of our blueprints for life. We must remember that His calling upon our lives is a gift. Further, I think the skills are to be used to serve others, as the Bible teaches. This always requires the denial of self and the picking up of our cross.

Christians must hold on loosely to what we have created for ourselves. We must be willing to sacrifice our lives for the sake of others. After all, Proverbs tells us to “hold back those going to the slaughter.” Chuck Smith once said, “the hardest thing in the world is to try to be something that God did not make you.” What profound wisdom in that statement! What has God made you? What has God given to you to do for His kingdom? Do you still view it as a gift? Service is a gift to be used for the sake of others and should always glorify the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

“Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ…”

– 1 Peter 4:9-11