Serving God often requires labor – but it is a labor of love

     Serving God – a Labor of Love!         

The New Testament teaches we are saved from sin but also saved to serve. Love for God and gratitude for His grace move us to sustained service in His kingdom, the church. Jesus parable of workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16 emphasizes God’s desire to call people of all ages and stages in life to come into His kingdom and labor in His vineyard.

In that passage the Lord (a landowner in the parable) goes out again and again throughout the work day to hire laborers into His vineyard. At the end of the day each laborer received the same reward, even though the amount of time they labored varied greatly. The big take home point in the parable is that God is gracious and desires to save and reward every person who comes to Him with eternal life – not based on us earning or meriting salvation, and certainly not by putting God in our debt, but based upon our response to His gospel in love, faith, and obedience.

The apostle Paul pointed to himself in 1 Timothy 1:15 as the “chief of sinners” but also declared that it is a “faithful (English Standard Version ‘trustworthy’) saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” He nails the source of his salvation in verse 14 – “And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Paul argued to the end of the day that he was saved by God’s grace – but Bible readers know he wasn’t saved to just “sit on the premises” and be a spiritual “couch potato!”

After his dramatic conversion to Christ he became a tireless worker in God’s kingdom. He states in 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 that although he was “the least of the apostles” and “not worthy to be call an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God,” yet “by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Later in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 the hard-working apostle verbalizes that “the love of Christ constrains us” and moves Christians to “no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."

There is a powerful connection between love and labor as the following story shows. A man went to the doctor after weeks of symptoms. The doctor carefully examined him, then called the patient’s wife into his office.  He informed her, “Your husband suffers from a rare form of anemia.  Without treatment, he’ll die in a few weeks. The good news is his malady can be treated with proper nutrition. You will need to fix him a hot, full breakfast every morning – pancakes, bacon and eggs, the works. He will need full, home-cooked meals every day at lunch and again at supper.

None of the canned and processed stuff. It will greatly increase his chances for survival if you bake constantly – cakes, pies, homemade bread, etc.  One more thing. His immune system is very weak, so you’ll need to keep his clothes and the house clean and scrubbed free of dirt, dust and contaminants. Do you have any questions?” The wife had none. The doc’ asked, “Do you want to break the news, or shall I?” She said she would.

She walked into the exam room. Her husband sensed the seriousness of the situation and said, “It’s bad, isn’t it?” She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. “What’s going to happen to me?” he asked. Sobbing, his wife blurted, “The doctor says you’re going to die!” Serving God often requires labor – but it is a labor of love (Hebrews 6:10).

-- by Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN