Unprofitable Servant

I will not lie and say that my love and zeal has always been strong ever since 1975. I have had some hard roads and hurts so that some of what I have done has been by sheer duty and at times habit. My faith has wavered because I looked at people and circumstances seeing my own worth based on how they valued me figuring God must not value me much because they did not value me. That made me think my service was not valuable robbing me of my joy in serving. Still, I served hoping that one day I might actually do something that would please God. After all, it was my duty to do all I that I could do.

1Co 7:22 For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant.

23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

It took awhile to finally be get to the point where while I like praise from men, the only real praise I need to seek is the praise of God. I am not man's servant. I am His. Yet, as the Master came to serve men and washed their feet so I am to serve others, just not by their standards. Jesus did not please everyone and definitely not those with notoriety and influence. They did all they could to stop Him and facilitated His crucifixion. Indeed, the more He did the more they required of Him and yet they were not pleased and refused to believe.

Time passes, but the nature of man will not change until the new heaven and new earth. The same types of people that were present in Jesus' day are here today. You may never please the ones who give earthly promotions and titles, but that is not your calling. Your call is to serve Him in humility and His power. It is He that called you and He that will give you what you need to serve Him where He wills. Where and what may surprise you because it is not where and what you assumed or even desired. The upside of that is you will be in His will and that will make it more joyful and fruitful for you and the Kingdom.

Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

If you really want to serve Him, you do not need ordinations, PhDs or approval from some ecclesiastical hierarchy. Even in my fairly small town of 30K, we have plenty of the people described by Jesus to whom we can minister. Have an old serviceable coat or other clothing that you don't really NEED? Most of us have far more clothing than we need just taking up closet space. Have a couple of hours to serve a meal to the homeless or low income folks? There is a jail near you where you can go sing and teach/preach. Nowadays, even our neighbors are strangers so there are plenty to reach out to and if nothing else invite to church since stats show that many people do not attend church because they have never been asked. How sad is that?