Human Response 308: Serving Not the Lord with Joy

Deuteronomy 28:47-48 Because thou servest not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart; for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies….

The curses will come upon the people when they do not serve the Lord with gladness. If we do not serve the Lord we will serve our enemies. There is no middle ground; it is one or the other; you can’t have it both ways. Either the Lord God tells us what to do and we do it, or sin, death, and the devil tells us what to do and we do that. Regardless how much we do not want to believe it, we are not own own boss. Self is also an enemy.

Serving the Lord is worshipping, believing, loving, and trusting God alone, not just mostly, but exclusively. But God does need our service; other people do. Serving people is the practical, everyday way in which we love God. And we love because He first loved us. The way we love one another is the way we love God.

Our response to the Gospel is serving the Lord with joyfulness and with gladness of heart. We do not serve under compulsion, as a burden, for pay, or out of duty, but willingly as a joyful response to God. “The love of Christ compels us.” The Christian is always happy because he is given many opportunities to be kind and gracious in word and deed. Serving is good!