All true service for Christ must spring from love to Christ. Martha and others, had been sorely bereaved, when Lazarus died. But their grief had turned into joy on seeing him raised from the dead. Their gratefulness to Christ caused them to love Him, and their love made them prepare the feast at which Martha was prominent in service. It would be well for us to examine the motive of our service to see if it is really out of love to Christ. No service, however menial, will be despised by Him, and no service, however prominent it may seem, will be esteemed by the Lord, if the motive is not to please Him. He searches the hearts, and knows all.
No service is too insignificant if He desires it done. Our aim should not be so much to do some great thing, as to do some little thing for our great and worthy Lord. Evidently it would matter little to Martha whether she was toiling in the kitchen to make the feast ready, or whether she waited on her Lord at the table. All was unto Him, and out of love to His person. The motive is what counts in all service to Christ.
Then she not only served Him at the table, but also those who were with Him. Do we realize that in serving the Lord’s people, and others for His sake, we are serving Christ? In fact, because of His bodily absence we are unable to do for Him as Martha did; yet we can serve Him by doing His will in His absence. That may include giving His gospel, in some form, to the unconverted, or in ministering in some way to the saints. Did He not prophesy that in the coming Great Tribulation some who showed kindness to His Jewish brethren would hear Him say, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me” (Mt. 25:40)?
Nor should our service to Christ have for its object any selfish interest. Most of our daily toil has remuneration for its object, and that is legitimate in the affairs of this world. The Spirit, through Paul, says, “To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt” (Rom. 4:4). That is, the employer is indebted to pay his employee. But since we are indebted to Christ for saving us from a well-deserved hell by His agonies on the Cross, our service to Him cannot be a service of contract, but an expression of love. If what we profess to do for Christ has for its real object the praise of men, it will surely bring no pleasure to our Lord. If our activities are in order to obtain for ourselves a place of influence and authority among our brethren, we shall surely miss the mark. Let our service, whatever it be, stem from genuine love to Christ, and to this end shall we not continuously judge our motives?
Every truly born again soul should be able to do some service for His Lord. Few are fitted to preach His Word publicly. Some may be particularly fitted to teach Sunday School; mothers may find that their service for Him is in the home rearing their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. But all should be able to find something to do to prove their love for Christ. True love is always active and must find some way of expressing itself. Nor will that one who truly loves consider the act a sacrifice, but a privilege, an honor. The one who has done most out of love to the Lord will feel he has done but very little indeed.
True love is always active and must find some way of expressing itself.