Can you believe that after today, we only have two posts left in our summer series? I’m sad that it’s over, but I also have lots of great stuff to share with y’all! Our final guest post for this series was written by another very dear friend of mine. Annabelle! She writes awesome fiction and keeps up an absolutely fabulous blog. Annabelle is such a lovely friend and person, and I just know you’ll enjoy her stuff! If you haven’t already, go check out her blog Rays of Marigolds here.
Service gives us a unique glimpse at what heaven is like while still revealing to us how far this world is from it.
That was a conflicting sentence, but I think the concept is too. That’s what this post is going to be about; unpacking the different views of service and connecting why they matter.
So often we think of service as work, an often tiresome chore done solely for the benefit of someone else. Like volunteering for VBS at our church, which is so tiring you hardly have the energy to stand at the end of the day. Or like doing chores around the house that aren’t your responsibility, which only makes you angry that you had to do them in the first place.
But that’s not what service is. It is so much more than extra work with troublesome results. Service is an act of obedience, allowing us to better follow the way of Jesus Christ and mend the connection between us. When we serve those around us we are serving the King of the world.
When we choose to serve we are following the direct command of Jesus. In the book of John (chapter 13), Jesus humbled Himself by washing the feet of His disciples. This wasn’t something natural to the human instincts of His disciples, who tried to stop Him from stooping low enough to serve them. Their way of thinking forbid that action because this fallen world asks us to put ourselves first, always. They wanted Him to do the same, because He, of all people, deserved it.
But Jesus had come to set straight the mindset of the world. Just like He showed the first to be last, He demonstrated how the greatest were to humble themselves in service. He was displaying to the world what had been intended for it when God first created it, a place where heartfelt love and genuine kindness triumph over sin and selfishness. When we obey Jesus, we are working in sync with His perfect plan of hope and salvation. A life of service brings healing to our own hearts and to the aching hearts around us. Isn’t that a beautiful calling to live for?
There are so many ways you can serve. Instead of thinking about it in the form of tasks, think about it as a way to live. The Bible says that Jesus became a servant in human form. Don’t you think we should do our best to follow? We don’t need to be worrying about how to check off all the volunteer work and kind acts from our to-do list. If we humble our hearts in obedience our lives will become lives of servitude.
Maybe service doesn’t feel like the most spiritual thing in the world. Maybe it does take willingness, humility, determination, and sometimes even a little bit of elbow grease. I don’t think we should discount that. In fact, I think we should acknowledge and accept it.
To me, it is the draining side of service that makes me long for the Kingdom. If service was a perfect thing in a fallen world, what would we have to look forward to in Heaven? But service is far from perfect, as is the rest of the world. Sometimes it costs more than we want to give, it forces us to put others first, it changes our plans, and it takes us by surprise. It isn’t what we want, and it certainly isn’t what we asked for.
But it’s what we need. And it’s what we are called to. Service heals something inside of us longing for Jesus by bringing us to Him.
It will be such a marvelous day when we are no longer hiding from the thing that is commanded of us by the Lord. When we are in heaven with the Lord, service will no longer be a struggle, but a joy.
Service glorifies God. It loves others. And it also gives meaning to our lives. Because when we serve we are obeying the words of the Lord and are abiding in His will for us. There is no better place for us to be than in the presence of God. That is the only place where we can find true contentment and peace.
And it is all worth it, even if it doesn’t feel like it. All the effort, the exhaustion, the time, the talent, the change of plans, all of it. Because when we are serving others, we are returning a little bit of the world to its original purpose. We are overcoming the exhaustion, hurt, and darkness to instill the love, peace and selflessness shown first to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. This is how we do our part to restore here on earth what Satan destroyed. This is how we bring Heaven to earth.
One day, the Lord will come back and heal all that darkness for good. Our small efforts to bring light will dim next to the overwhelming greatness of our Lord, who served us best by offering His life for our sake. Service will be a joy and selfishness will no longer hinder it.
Until that day, let’s shine Jesus’ light as we better follow His footsteps in love and humility. Let’s power by the strength of Jesus through the hard days and endless hours, and let’s offer our lives in service to the Lord.