Serving | Spiritual PracticesSýnishorn

“Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people”
– Colossians 3:23 (CSB) –

Yesterday, if you read Psalm 100:2 in the NIV or RSV, it said “worship the LORD with gladness.” Worshiping and serving are closely related in Biblical thought, but the Hebrew word is ebed. It’s the standard word for “work” or “serve.” This is the same word used in Gen 2:15 where God tells Adam to work the ground and care for it. It’s the same word in Exodus 1:14 where Israel-in-slavery is being worked ruthlessly.

In its noun form it means “servant” or “slave.” So the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20 will tell us not to covet someone’s ebed, and Exodus 21 regulates how an ebed who loves the person he serves can indenture himself to that person for life. Moses is called an ebed of the Lord, and Isaiah prophecies a suffering ebed. Paul reflects on this in Romans 1 when he calls himself a slave (possibly servant) of Christ. The prophet Malachi will even distinguish between the righteous and wicked on the basis of those who serve God and those who do not (Mal 3:18).

It’s hard to think how a servant, or especially a slave, could ever find joy in their drudgery and serve with gladness. But Jesus tells a parable where three servants (or slaves) are entrusted by their master with various talents – five, two, and one respectively. “Talent” here is a unit of measurement for a large sum of money (some translations like the recent edition of the NIV will say “bags of gold”). But it’s a bit uncanny how well it relates to the talents God gives us today.

The point of the parable is each servant’s response to what their master has entrusted them with. The first two are excited, even eager, to share with their master how they put his talents to work and served him. The master is delighted and the relationship between them is pure joy. But the last servant thought the master a hard man, and rather than serve in joy, buried the talent he was given and did nothing with it out of fear.

They knew the honor they were given and the honor attached to whom they served.

In Colossians 3:23, Paul writes: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (NIV). When you serve, it might seem like you’re serving a neighbor or a cause. It might be at your church or in your community. It might happen formally or informally. The tasks at hand might be grand or mundane, stamped with importance or seemingly unimportant. Your service might be recognized or go unnoticed. Sometimes it will be thankless. Sometimes it feels pointless. Our efforts can go unappreciated. However you serve, wherever you serve, or whomever you serve, remember, when you serve, you are ultimately serving God.

And that invests it with the highest honor, worth, and meaning. Serving God is the highest of callings.

Colossians 3:23 was written to slaves. Actual slaves in the Roman Empire. From society’s standpoint, the lowest of the low. Was there any group of people who were more underappreciated, taken advantage of, or relegated to menial work? Yet Paul tells them to serve with all their hearts. With sincerity, and reverence to God. Because no matter what earthly person claimed a hold on them, no matter how others viewed them or underappreciated their work, no matter their earthly position or whom it seemed they were serving, God viewed their labor as an offering to him. Slaves not of earthly masters, but servants of the Christ Jesus, the King.

If it’s true for slaves, it’s true for you. Whomever you serve and however you serve, it has value. So do it with dignity. Hold your head high. No matter how low on the totem pole or unrecognized by others it might be. You are a servant of the Lord High God. When you serve, serve as though you’re serving the King.

Questions
When you serve, you ultimately serve God. What are some ways you can adopt this perspective in day-to-day serving? How does a realization that you are a servant of God change the tenor of how you serve and the value of your serving?