30th March, 2021
Minister: Pastor (Mrs.) Bola Osanyinbi
The Lord has given everyone of us privileged opportunity to work and serve as the Lord Jesus did. In Ephesians 4:7-10, we see there is a fullness of Christ that all of us needs to come into. Further in Ephesians 4:13, our services should be for the perfection of the saints and this is why we were given gifts according to our measure of grace. Every gift has its own measure of grace. The perfection of the saints entails building, correcting, rebuking, and so on till we all come into the unity of the faith. These gifts are supposed to bring balance to the church. Hence, the saints are expected to take their stand, they must be ready to follow the laid down rules and they must be able to extend this knowledge to others.
1 Peter 4:11 emphasizes how the grace that has been given to us is for service and if they are for service, then, we are no longer of ourselves. We belong to the Lord because He is the one who gives ability. It is therefore important that we should be obedient to the instruction of the Lord.
Romans 7:6 and 2 Corinthians 5:17 reveal our true identity which should inform how we should live our lives as children of God. Our service is expected to be in the newness of life and not in our old ways of life. The totality of our lives is supposed to reveal the newness that we have received. Acts 20:9 admonishes that we serve the Lord in humility of mind. This is one of the evidences of the newness that we have received in Christ Jesus.
For our natural mind, humility is a big deal but by constant renewing of our mind as Romans 12:1 says, will go a long way in helping us to live like Christ. It is only when our mind is renewed that we will be able to please the Lord as carriers of God’s power; we cannot just handle things anyhow.
Jesus Christ who is our model left the place of honor to serve. We have no excuse not to be able to serve likewise. He also served in love and with all his heart. Moses, Elijah, Paul and the other apostles all served the Lord in humility, love and wholeheartedness. They can also be our model.
Passages like Acts 9:20-21, 2:42 and others expressed how men genuinely served God after their conversion in humility of heart. Even when they were performing diverse signs, wonders and miracles, they saw it as God working through them. They remained steadfast and continued in fellowship and their labor was not in vain. The same way our labor of love too will not be in vain. To serve God, we need God as stated in 1 Peter 4:11. Our watchword for doing things should be “that God be glorified.”