Reflections by the Pond
April 9, 2003

Our Choice to Serve

After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him. They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross. Mark 15:20-21 nasbu

With many of us there is a feeling that since we have accepted Christ as Lord--since we have ensured our eternal salvation--we can now just lean back, resting comfortably in the arms of God's grace, and cast a blind eye to any responsibility in His kingdom. All around us there are souls needing to be introduced to Him, there are jobs to be filled, talents and gifts to be used in His name--there is so much work to be done within and without the kingdom, but we let it all parade by, as if we've already met the totality of our responsibilities.

We have become so fearful of the concept of "works" (placing it all too conveniently in opposition to salvation by grace) that we run screaming from anyone suggesting that we might have such an obligation.

It is true that when we come to Christ there is no bargain struck, no quid pro quo. When we repent of our sins in all candor and honesty, the deed is done. That's it. Nothing more is required from us. God does not keep a ledger in which there is a pre-ordained total at the bottom of our personal column; our works are never tallied against that total to see if we will eventually qualify for a place in His eternity.

But just because there is no goal we must reach, that is not to say there are to be no works. And that is not to say God keeps no ledger.

The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
1 Corinthians 3:8-9 niv

Simon of Cyrene had no choice in his service to the Lord; a Roman soldier made that decision for him. But we have the choice. We certainly can choose to sit on our heels, placidly content in our salvation while our sanctification withers on the vine. On the other hand, we can choose to give full flower to our appreciative adoration, and thus our progressive sanctification, to serve the Lord with gladness and joy--not for any promised reward, but for the sheer, exultant satisfaction of serving the One who gave Himself so selflessly for us.

God not only has graciously offered us eternal salvation, but He has gone out of His way to invest Himself in our lives. He literally soiled His hands to create human life in the first place, and He shed His own blood on the cross so that human life could know eternity with Him. Might it be only proper for each of us to invest something of ourselves in His life?

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Reflections file: pond0366.txt