Can any of us say that we are serving our God fully? Sure … we can say it, but can we say it truthfully?
The most likely and accurate analysis of our lives would find that we are not serving Him fully … only One ever did. If we will recognize this simple and inescapable fact, then, we are ready to strive for a fuller service to Him.
The trick is to acknowledge our shortcomings without accepting or declaring defeat. Some might ask “If I am not capable of serving him fully, what is the point?”
The Apostle Paul would have us understand that the point of our lives is discovered in striving to serve Him fully.
There are many days in our lives when we can look back and say, honestly, “ I have not sinned.” But we don’t get to hang our laurels on that day. Instead, we have to focus on the next day and work to do it again.
I submit to you that this is Paul’s message in Philippians 3:12-16:
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
The best question we could ask ourselves today is “does this passage describe me or just the Apostle Paul?”
Paul continues his thought, in part in Hebrews 12:1, where he says “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
What kind of things hinder us from serving our God more fully? What weight are we carrying that we ought to lay down?
Pride
Let’s read Matthew 19:16-22:
Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
The Rich Young Ruler is unlike the Apostle Paul in that he may have seen himself as already having attained. He is prideful when he asks, “what do I still lack”, he seems confident that he lacked nothing and is dismayed by Jesus’ answer.
How often do we look at our lives and fail to ask, with conviction, “what do I still lack?” It is easy to look at our lives and proclaim that we are good Christians, especially when we size ourselves up against people in the world, or worst yet, brethren who we see as weaker than ourselves.
Consider Luke 18:9-14:
Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men — extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Pharisee was not talking to God about a Gentile but a fellow Jew, one like Matthew who was a tax collector before he followed Jesus. It is far too easy to look around us and believe that we are more righteous than our peers, but that very thought betrays us.
While we may be stronger in many aspects of our lives than some of our brethren, this fact does not put us in a position to judge, but a position to reach out and lift our brethren up.
Listen to Paul:
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load. Galatians 6:1-5
Now hear Jesus:
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:1-5
Pride can prevent us from seeing ourselves — and other brethren — in the proper light. Nothing we have done yesterday, no matter how great, has any currency with God today. Each day we are to present ourselves to the Lord for His use. If this will be our attitude, we will have little opportunity for pride.
Worldly Ambitions
Besides pride, the Rich Young Ruler was hindered by his wealth — the product of his worldly ambitions. Jesus says in Luke 12:15, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Paul writes to Timothy:
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 1 Timothy 6:9-10
Wealth is but one distraction. While ambition is not a sin, it provides plenty of opportunities to forget our Lord.
Every time we find ourselves seeking greater wealth or position in this world, we need to ask ourselves, “at what cost to our Lord?” “While I am pursuing (whatever), am I neglecting my God’s will for me … His purpose?”
Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
As Christians, we have to continually examine ourselves and the things which motivate us. The Apostle Paul was motivated by his hope of Heaven and, as we read earlier, proclaimed, “I pressed toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
We can be certain that Paul was not concerned with the trappings of this world, he was only concerned with the next reality and how many he could take with him.
Customs and Traditions
Sometimes, the things that hinder us from more fully serving our God are second nature to us — things developed in us by our families and culture.
Jesus makes it very clear that our family or its traditions are not an excuse for failing to follow Him. In Luke 14:26,27, Jesus says, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
Knowing that the central theme of the New Testament is love, we know that Jesus certainly does not expect us to harbor hate toward our families or ourselves. However, the wants, needs, ambitions, or traditions of our families can never come before our Lord and His commands.
Also, we have to be careful not to hide behind that word “commands.” There are many things our Lord expects of us which He has not specifically commanded. This is one of the greatest reasons why it is important for us to study the Word. There is so much more for us to know beyond His commandments. The great majority of God’s will is not found in commandments, but in instructions and examples — all of which are for our learning.
In the Gospels, we learn of how the Pharisees and the Sadducees were more concerned with their own traditions than the Word of God, itself. It is easy for us to look at them and see that we are not like them — just as the Pharisee did in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, which we read earlier.
Unfortunately, we are all prone to create traditions that we can, without thinking, begin to value more than God’s Word. Even more dangerous are our family or cultural traditions we follow which we have had no part in developing and follow simply because they are traditions.
Traditions are not bad because they are traditions, they are only bad when they are blindly followed.
Because of their traditions, the Jews condemned Jesus, not because of an understanding of God’s word. Those who thoughtfully considered the things Jesus did and said saw that He was fulfilling the Scriptures and they gladly followed Him.
Finally, Brethren …
If we can put aside our pride, worldly ambitions, customs and traditions, and whatever else may stand between our God and ourselves, we can serve our God more fully. We will stumble from time to time, but if our eyes are fixed on the prize, I am confident that we can do better in each day of our lives.
In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul tells us:
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
Let this be our attitude today and strive for our Lord in the coming days.