Last week and this week, the kids and I have talked several times about the phrase in Psalm 100: Serve the Lord with gladness.
Applications keep brimming over.
For the children, we’ve talked about it in context of a right response instead of complaining about chores. We discussed that sometimes, serving God can be inconvenient (like sharing a bedroom when company comes over, or giving the last of the sugar cereal to guests). Our responsibility is not just to serve God, but to find joy in doing so.
For me, I’m thinking in the context of Lee’s deployment. Can I really serve with gladness when I miss him dreadfully already? Yes, especially as I choose what and how to think. I can serve God with gladness as I watch his tender mercies: bringing to us a Christian Iraqi family with a DVD of their home church (no war) in Iraq, allowing our previous pastor to pick Lee up in Sacramento as he was enroute to the next leg of his journey, knowing that the dog I never wanted would be welcome as a mini-protector and companion.
If I choose to think about the misery of an uncomfortable condition, my desires of something different, the woe of repeated failure, and so on, I will serve with resentment.
But if instead I think about God’s provision and grace, if I remember that he is an all powerful and all loving God who is actively involved in every detail of my life, down to the hairs of my head, if I remember His sufficiency, I can serve Him with gladness.
That is my desire and prayer.
How is God’s Word changing you this week?
[…] under an area of service to another, a particularly minor service, when Michelle’s post about serving the Lord with gladness convicted me. That led me to thinking about serving one another in love. Then last night in Joy and […]