Report for Duty

God has called us to service. Most people do not argue with that statement, but I believe we have a very narrow way of looking at service. I'm really trying to see what serving the Lord looks like.

Joshua challenged his generation with this:
"Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD . And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD , choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD ." Joshua 24:14-15 NASB

It seems like Joshua is saying we are going to serve something or someone. It's not a question of whether you will serve, but rather who you will serve.

Paul said that serving was a part of the testimony of the Christians at Thessalonica. "For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-109 NASB

They were serving with an anticipation of Christ's return. I was interested this morning in what Steve Furtick had to say. He has some interesting insight into what it means to serve the Lord.

Check out: Colossians 3:23-25. " Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. NASB

This would lead me to believe that serving the Lord is more than just volunteering at church or in the community. It is more than vocational Christianity. Serving is the natural lifestyle of God's children. When we do what we ought to, in the way we ought to do it, as though it is the Lord we are doing it for, we are serving the Lord.

Question: Do we do everything we do as servants of the Lord or do we do it because of men? Maybe we would face each day more "heartily" if we were reporting to the Lord instead of men. Every morning when we awake, the Lord is calling out, "REPORT FOR DUTY."

What do you think?