Now’s The Time To Serve

There is no ideal place to serve God except the place where He has set you down. - Eric Alexander(1)

The Lord wants us to bloom where we’re planted, and to serve Him faithfully right where we are. He doesn’t want us to sit around waiting for the “perfect situation” before we serve Him. If we want to make an impact for the kingdom then we must begin with the small things in life. Jesus said those who are faithful in a little will be faithful in much; and those who are faithful in the small things will be given greater responsibility (Mt 25:21).

If we wish to be promoted to having a greater impact and more influence, then we must begin serving the Lord right now with whatever we’ve been given. John MacArthur states,

There are many people who want to have immediate success in ministry without there being a proving ground - a place where they’ve perfected their skills and their spiritual gifts. Someone who does the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way doesn’t just plan for the future; he ministers in the present as well . . . Don’t be content to do nothing, waiting for the perfect situation. Find an open door and go through it.(2)

This quote by MacArthur summarizes the main premise of this message – that there are way too many believers waiting for the perfect scenario to come along before they will serve the Lord. It’s an excuse that’s oftentimes utilized for spiritual inactivity - the excuse of not being able to serve the Lord because life is too hard or difficult right now, or that it’s not an ideal time or situation.

A secondary premise of this sermon addresses the urgency of investing our gifts and spiritual understanding wisely. Time is of the essence in our journey through life, and we’ve been entrusted with a great wealth which must be invested in the lives of others while it’s still called today. We must make lasting spiritual deposits in the lives of the people whom we encounter on a daily basis.

Serve the Lord Anywhere You Can (vv. 1-2)

We must use what God’s given us before we lose it. Before we get started, let me share something from the book of James. James cautioned against hoarding, telling us this: “Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded . . . You have heaped up treasure in the last days” (5:2-3). O. S. Hawkins, President of the Southern Baptist institution GuideStone Financial Resources, elaborates on these verses, saying,

The first century world did not have certificates of deposit or stock certificates. Their wealth was measured in grain, garments, and gold. When James said, “Your wealth has rotted,” he was referring to grain . . . How does it rot? By lack of use.(3)

The person James spoke about hoarded his grain, and grain was as good as money. The application here is that whenever we hoard money, or heap it up and not spend it, then it’s good for nothing. It might as well be sitting in the bank rotting. The same thing holds true whenever we fail to invest spiritually. In Ecclesiastes 11:1-2, we read,

Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, for you do not know what evil will be on the earth (Ecclesiastes 11:1-2).

The New Living Translation reads, “Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you, but divide your investments among many places, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead” (Eccl 11:1-2). Whether you translate the word as “bread,” or as “grain” (11:1), both convey the same concept. Our bread, or grain, is the amount of wealth in our possession.

Grain is not something that can be saved or hoarded, for it is perishable and can rot; therefore, it must be sold in the market so that it can be cashed and turned into currency. It does no good just sitting in a silo or grain bin. It’s like stock, in that we can’t forever leave it sitting in the same place.

The price of shares rise and fall, and if we leave our stock sitting in the same place when prices are falling then we could wind up with nothing left. Shares must be sold and the cash value rolled over into other stocks. Money must be invested, and it can’t be invested unless it is moved.

Bread must be sold, and it can’t be sold until we actually put it on the ship to go to market. The point is that we can’t hoard wealth or it loses its value. It must be in motion in order to receive a return, and I’m not talking about the motion of frivolous spending, but the motion of investing. Wealth must be in motion, and when we make the decision to move it then we should keep in mind that it’s unwise to invest it all in one place.