We Do Not Serve God
Jun 4 2024 - Eric Buresh
I have a frustrating tendency to put myself at the middle of the universe in my own mind even though I know intellectually how silly that is. It’s not intentional. Rather, when I let my mind meander in default mode, without being alert, sober-minded and discerning, I typically end up thinking like a humanist (with me being the human). Suddenly I find myself happily at the center of everything bearing great importance in my own mind. This tendency manifests most often when I find myself thinking -- sometimes proudly and sometimes defeatedly -- about my supposed service to God. In my imagination, somedays God has me on speed dial for the excellent help I provide and somedays God has the help wanted sign hanging in the window of heaven because I let Him down.
Either way, when I get lost in myself, I remind myself that I do not serve God. God is not taking any service from me because God is not a taker. God is a giver. He is always giving, never taking. When I fancy myself to be serving God, my wrong mindset can be summed up in one word – religion. Working to earn favor or blessing that God freely gives. As humans (or humanists), we want to work because we want to be owed. We don’t want to rely on God’s grace freely given. It’s more certain, in our own minds and ignoring the character of God, if we’ve earned it. So, we “serve” God.
An incredible misunderstanding of God lies at the heart of these inclinations. “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.” (Acts 17:24-25) God is the great Giver. He doesn’t need anything from us. He doesn’t need to be served. In His own words, He doesn’t ask us for help:
“For every beast of the forest is Mine,
And the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the mountains,
And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.”
(Psalm 50:10-11)
He is the giver of help:
Offer to God thanksgiving,
And pay your vows to the Most High.
Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
(Psalm 50: 14-15)
The thing God does desire and that He commands over and over in His Word is that after He has filled us all life, breath, and everything we need by the majestic power of the Holy Spirit, that we overflow in love by serving one another. When we see the picture accurately, we understand we are not serving God. God serves us in love SO THAT we can serve others in love SO THAT God gets the glory and thanksgiving for the beautiful results. With this understanding front of mind, we see God is at the center of it all, not me and not any human, and we see God’s glory manifest.