Working to Serve the Lord

Someone once said, “The two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” We all know the day we were born, but if we don’t know why and for what purpose we are on this earth, we may be like a wandering stranger without a destination. But there is a clear reason we are on this earth.

For many the most ideal purpose seems to be how they can contribute to society with their talents. But no one was born with all talents, experiences, capabilities, resources, or health, nor do we achieve them on our own. We possess them because of the sacrifice and dedication of others. Even our life is not something we created, but something we were given.

We were made by the Lord’s mighty hand and created anew by his redeeming grace to live with new hope and purpose. When we remember the grace and love God bestowed on us, it is natural to love Him and serve Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind.

Sometimes, as I walk around the CEF International Headquarters campus, I stop in front of flowers or a field of grass and capture the beauty with my camera. Creation is made by the mysterious handiwork of Almighty God, and His greatest creation was man. At the end of each day of creation, God looked at everything He made and then He said it was good. But when God made man, He said that creation was very good. He was satisfied with his existence and delighted in it. As God’s creation, we are accountable to Him for our lives. We must know exactly what He made us for and fulfill His will to the fullest.

Many people refuse to recognize God as their Creator and seek to become masters of their own lives and pleasures. Their ambitions become their purpose for living. In the end, they have no God and His will for them becomes irrelevant. Yet, even in their sins, He sought to redeem them. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the atoning sacrifice. When we trust in Jesus as our Savior, we receive new life from God and become His. Our life’s purpose and direction are reset. Redeemed by grace, we are indebted to God and our lives are no longer our own. They were purchased with the blood of Christ, and we have a new purpose and mission in life—to live for the glory of God.

God wants to walk with His born-again children and accomplish His will through them. The Apostle Paul expresses the purpose of our existence: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). He accurately described our identity in life when he wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20) and “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8). This is the confession of the redeemed. The purpose of our life is Jesus, who died on the cross for us and was raised from the dead. Believers must seek to be like Jesus in every aspect of our lives.

When we are redeemed by Jesus Christ, He gives us unique gifts to serve Him and live for Him. There are different ways to serve the Lord:

• To serve the church. We serve together through His body, the church, by using our gifts to serve, minister, help, comfort, show compassion, teach, and lead so that we all may become more like Jesus and expand His kingdom (Romans 12:4-8, Ephesians 4:11-13). 
• To love and serve the body the Lord loves. “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:20-21). We should love, serve, and honor those the Lord holds in high esteem so they may realize their value before God and live for the Lord. This is in accordance with the Lord’s command, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).
• To love and serve ourselves as the Lord loves us. Each believer is precious in the sight of the Lord. We must accept and believe in our God-given value without comparing ourselves to anyone else. It is a beautiful service to the Lord to no longer live for our own desires, but willingly give ourselves to Him. He will use us for His will and purposes as we obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit and serve Him by taking care of our time, health, mind, and soul.
• Financial Giving. Someone said the pockets of men are the last to be consecrated. Though possessions are entrusted to us for only a short time, we cherish them and hold tightly to them. Only what is used for the Lord lasts forever. He who serves the Lord with his earthly possessions is wise. If our money can lead souls to heaven, and our support enable evangelists to preach the Gospel, what more valuable service can there be? We ought to accumulate wealth with the purpose of investing it for the kingdom.
• Fulfilling the Great Commission. We have been entrusted to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). The same mission is given to all Christ’s disciples, His church on earth. The Lord gave His life so that sinners could believe and be saved. Proclaiming the Good News is the best way we can serve Him.

On our own, we are like leafy trees without fruit. God has given the Holy Spirit to help us serve Him. When God built the tabernacle in the wilderness, He appointed Bezalel to make the instruments for it and filled him with the Spirit of God, ability, intelligence, knowledge, and all craftsmanship (Exodus 31:1-5). All we must do is give ourselves to the Lord with a willing heart and obey His guidance in every moment.

The purpose and mission of our lives is to live for the glory of God. Serving the Lord as a servant of Christ is a lifelong privilege. We should take advantage of such a wonderful opportunity granted by the grace of the Lord, so that when we are stripped of this physical tabernacle and clothed with the eternal tabernacle and stand before our redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, we will hear His voice say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”