A distinguishing feature of our time is that all humanity lives from harvest to harvest, and all of us depend on grocery stores, where food is not given away free but must be purchased—and that requires money. Money, in turn, has to be earned, so we rent out our strength and knowledge to an employer or a customer and trust that we will receive the agreed payment. Heat and electricity must also be paid for, so we have to work even more. Life passes by while you run like a squirrel in a wheel.
But there was a time when food grew throughout the earth on fruit and nut trees, the weather was warm everywhere, and neither money nor stores existed. Sin, however, made its own changes to the way human needs are supplied.
Even now, many people wish to return to a simpler life so that they can be independent of this world. To do this, they leave the cities and settle in the countryside, where they can have their own garden and live from the land. The land yields its fruit and feeds those who begin to befriend it by caring for the seed they have sown.
But if all of us must earn something in order to live normally, how are those who decide to devote themselves to serving God to live? Some kinds of ministry are paid, and at times it is difficult to understand whether I am doing something from the heart or for the salary. Yet there is also service that demands much strength and time without bringing material profit. A person nevertheless performs it and receives true blessedness from it, especially when seeing the fruit of the labor or Heaven’s approval. It is true that sometimes I do something out of necessity, because there is no one else to do it.
Another brick for our little house of happiness is called “I serve.” There are many different kinds of service, but among them is one that is special—the longest-lasting and unsurpassed kind. No one ever pays for it, and it requires a high degree of self-sacrifice twenty-four hours a day. It takes a toll on one’s health, develops patience and steadfastness in unforeseen circumstances, and prompts a person to seek strength from above when human strength is exhausted. Yet despite all this, nearly all ordinary people dream of such service from childhood, and they are very happy when the Lord entrusts them with this responsibility. People are willing to spend sleepless nights, deprive themselves of many pleasures and everyday comforts, live for this service, and set aside their education and work, because they see special meaning in this activity and receive a continual reward in the form of joy and love. Of course, many of you have guessed what I mean. Yes, this service is called motherhood. To say that such labor does not bring happiness is to understand nothing about life. But along with happiness come cares and all kinds of trials. Certainly, some people consciously avoid this service, but they are more the exception than the rule. The most unsurpassed work—a work that even angels do not dream of, because it is beyond their ability—is to be a mother and to shape a person’s character according to one’s own understanding and judgment. Blessed are the children who have God-fearing mothers.
Besides this important service, however, there are many other kinds of activity for the good of our neighbors and for God. They bring the soul true delight and satisfaction.
Service is that to which I voluntarily give my time, strength, and knowledge in order to bring benefit or make a contribution to a public or personal endeavor.
Jesus identified two kinds of service that cannot be combined because each demands complete devotion: service to God and service to mammon, meaning wealth. Both require my time and strength, and both bring happiness. The only difference is that happiness comes in different forms.
By considering the structure and principles of my service, I can immediately identify what is temporary, earthly, and worldly and therefore cannot be used as sound material, because it will not withstand trials and will bring down my building.
My main criterion for determining the purity and holiness of my building materials is how much my Heavenly Father is glorified in them and whether I will be able to take them with me into Eternity.
The Bible contains the expression “servant of God.” I used to think that it applied to all God’s children, but as I studied Scripture, I noticed that this title belongs only to those who have completely devoted themselves to serving God and live by preaching the Gospel, depending entirely upon God’s provision. This is more likely a calling and a dedication to such a life than something common to all ordinary Christians.
How, then, can I avoid serving mammon if I live in a material world where everything must be paid for, while I cannot imagine earning money through my ministry because I perform it wholeheartedly and without charge and receive joy from it? Is there some inconsistency here?
God does not forbid me to work in the world and earn a living, but He calls me to remember Him, to reserve time for Him, and to make obedience to His will the priority of my life. My service to God captures all my attention and draws all my interests to itself so fully that even during my regular work I constantly think about how to please God, how to improve my ministry, and how to finish what I have begun.
But one kind of service differs from another. What I am able to do successfully and joyfully may be beyond another person’s strength or competence. Many kinds of ministry are distributed by God as gifts of the Holy Spirit for the building up of the body of Christ.
And because I belong to God, I understand that the Lord expects me to show initiative in His work so that it may grow and I may develop.
At the same time, the world offers its own values, which cost money and demand an investment of my strength and time. Enticing advertisements, happy faces, new possessions, and amazing inventions—all of this beckons me and asks me to serve it. The world does not object to my faith in God, as long as I keep it somewhere deep inside, hold firmly to traditions, and take out plenty of loans to acquire the things I need.
But the world’s time of grace is coming to an end. Everyone lives as though they will never die, and no one thinks about the fact that the Second Coming of Christ is drawing near, that it will take place, that all earthly things will come to an end, and that Eternity will begin. Then I will understand the true value of my service and how firmly, through it, I held God’s hand, giving Him the opportunity to teach me happiness and love.
Then everyone will suddenly realize what true happiness is. They will understand that God exists, that He is alive, and that He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. All money and accumulated wealth will become the refuse of this world, needed by neither moles nor mice.
But why is it so difficult for many people to understand these simple truths now and to build something enduring upon the Eternal Foundation?
I serve. This is the direction of my thoughts that helps me see God in everything and use every opportunity to make the lives of my neighbors better, draw their attention to what is Eternal and imperishable, and preserve me from moral decay. Even in Eternity, this brick will adorn my little house of happiness and continually bring joy to those whom I will serve forever.
And love makes my service right and very appealing to everyone. I become useful to God and greatly needed as I bring love, happiness, and friendship to my neighbors.
Bible verses for this chapter:
Matthew 6:24; 10:24–25; 20:25–28; 23:11–12; Deuteronomy 6:13; 13:4; 10:20; Joshua 24:14; Luke 17:7–10; Romans 12:1–2, 11; Psalm 2:11; 100:2; Revelation 14:13; 22:12; 1 Peter 2:18; 4:10; 1 Corinthians 12:4–11; 15:58