Serve the Lord.
Yesterday I found out my child has a potentially fatal condition.
Serve the Lord.
Yesterday I found out the cancer is back.
Serve the Lord.
Yesterday I found out my wife was unfaithful.
Serve the Lord.
Yesterday I found out we’re losing our home.
Serve the Lord.
Yesterday I was serving the Lord. Today I am still serving the Lord. Tomorrow I will be serving the Lord.
I really did get fired yesterday. Pretty profound moment in my life, I have to say. Details not necessary. Suffice it to say I am proud of everything I did, I worked harder than I ever worked, and I left with honor and integrity in tact. It was just time to leave.
I’ve been battling with it for a while. Been ready to be done for a while. Lots of red flags, lots of discontent, lots of grinding and frustration. Mornings would come and I’d have to peel myself out of bed. Evenings would come and I’d be struuuuuuuuuuugling to want to go to sleep because the morning would bring another 8-5 day.
So I got fired. There you have it. It sucks for sure to say, but I’m good with it. And you better believe I’m going to tell you why. Work isn’t about me. It’s never going to bring me complete satisfaction or secure identity. What I have realized throughout my adult “working career” is that whether I’m here or there, whether I’m loving my job or hating really not liking it, whether it’s good money or okay money, I will be fulfilled only if I chose to…
Serve the Lord.
Everything I do is about Him. Everywhere I go is for Him. Every move I make, every thing I say, everything is about Him. Not me. My identity doesn’t come from my job title, it doesn’t come from the number of people that praise, admire, or congratulate my work, and my identity certainly doesn’t come from my resume. It comes from Him.
Serve the Lord.
“Serve the Lord.” (Romans 12:11b) This is post #8 from Romans 12:9-21. Our ongoing study of the “True Marks of a Christian.”
Serve the Lord with gladness. Psalm 100:2
Serve the Lord and hold fast to Him. Deuteronomy 10:20
Serve the Lord without fear. Luke 1:74
Serve the Lord with all humility. Acts 20:19
Serve the Lord day and night. Revelation 7:15
Serve the Lord and obey Him. Daniel 7:27
Serve the Lord only. Deuteronomy 6:13, 1 Samuel 7:3, Matthew 4:10, Luke 4:8
Serve the Lord with a clear conscience. 2 Timothy 1:3
Serve the Lord.
Serving the Lord is so much better than serving myself. Than serving anything or anyone (including friends, parents, bosses, leaders, ideologies, causes, etc) in this world. There’s a reason the Bible so frequently says to serve the Lord only.
Serving myself ends with self-worship. I become the center of my universe, idolizing my talents, intelligence, appearance, status, reputation. Everything revolves around me, how I feel about situations and people becomes truth. I am willing to sacrifice anything and anyone to get what I want. I am enslaved to myself. I make a very bad master. A very bad god.
Serving other people (not talking about loving acts of service here, but slavery to other people) results in fear of man, disappointment, broken expectations, and constant insecurity. Have I done enough? Do they like me enough? Do they approve of me, my hair, my outfit, my job, my car, my house, my husband, my family? Am I good enough? Other people make very bad masters. Very bad gods.
Serve the Lord only.
We talked about worship a few days ago. We all worship something. Worship and service are very similar. We all worship/serve something or someone. What person on this earth do you believe to be perfect and worthy of your service? What person has never let you down and has always met every expectation you ever had? Or…what person do you fantasize will fulfill that role? If you could just get married, if you could just work with ____, if you could just have a baby (ahhh, conviction!), if you could just be friends with_____…
What material possession on this earth is so invaluable that you will become enslaved to it (debt, time, fantasy). What belief do you have that has you enslaved to achieving a goal? If I could just work hard enough and save enough money, we’ll have the perfect home. If I could just land this promotion, this contract, this deal, everyone will know who I am and how powerful I can be. If I could just drive that car. If I could just buy that brand, carry that purse (who, me?), wear those shoes, or get my hair done there, then I would fit in.
Again, like we talked about with worship, none of these things are bad. Friends, family, bosses, promotions, deals, nice cars, clothes, purses—they are good things. But not when they become god things. Idol things. Objects of worship. Things that bind us in slavery.
Serve the Lord.
It’s a fight for me to serve the Lord only, guys. It really is. I want to be successful at my job. I want to have recognition and approval. I want to have friends that love me. Sometimes I’ve cared a little too much about what they think. I really wanted to get married and wrapped up too much of my worth in Jason (poor guy—if setting him up as Savior isn’t a recipe for disaster, I don’t know what is). I want to have a car that might let people know that we’re doing just fine. I want to have a nice house that will be great for entertaining…
…and that maybe, just maybe, people will raise their eyebrows at.
I know. Yuck, right? Yuck because it’s ugly.
Serving Things and People = Slavery.
Yucky, nasty slavery. And it’s yucky because it’s a lie. The truth is…none of this is what I truly need and none of this will make me more happy or more satisfied. I don’t need more things. I don’t need greater status. I don’t need more affirmation, more approval or more admiration. I certainly don’t need more money (well, as of 4:37pm yesterday I sort of did). People and relationships aren’t even my greatest need. They will not make me happy. In the end all of it is a chasing after the wind.
Serving the Lord = Freedom.
Have you ever read the book of Ecclesiastes? It’s interesting. Super interesting. Solomon, a man who had everything, pens the words of this book. Incalculable wealth, kingdoms, power, women, food, objects, servants—you name it, he had it. And the theme throughout the book is “Vanity of vanities!” Here’s an interesting note from the ESV Study Bible:
“The book begins and ends with the exclamation: ‘Vanity of vanities! All is vanity’ (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12:8)….Literally the word means ‘vapor’ and conjures up a picture of something fleeting, ephemeral, and elusive, with different nuances to be ascertained from each context. When applied to human undertakings or the pleasures and joys of earthly life, it indicates that ‘the present form of this world is passing away’ (1 Cor. 7:31); applied to the darker realities of living in a fallen world (e.g., death), it expresses frustration, anger, or sorrow; applied to the Preacher’s search for understanding of all things, it indicates something that remained incomprehensible or inscrutable to him. This last-mentioned usage is particularly significant, as the book presents itself as primarily a quest to ‘figure out’ all of life (see esp. 1:12-18).”
Solomon ends the book with this:
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
ie:
Serve the Lord.
I don’t know what I’m going to do now for work. But I’m going to serve the Lord. I don’t know what I’m going to do now for money, but I’m going to serve the Lord. I don’t know what I’m going to do with all of my spare time, but you better believe I’ll be blogging 
AND SERVING THE LORD.
It’s the only thing that I do that brings me peace that passes understanding, joy-filled strength, and hope that is an anchor for my soul. He alone is worthy. It makes sense. It puts an end to all of the exhausting wind-chasing. It’s what I was made for. It’s what you were made for. It’s the only thing that matters.
For this is the whole duty of man.
