Only Our Duty
From the Pastor: Dr. M. J. Seymour, Sr.
In the parable of a good servant, Jesus said: “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” (Lk. 17:10)
Human nature, being what it is, demands recognition, even if its deeds are evil. This is a marked defining line between the carnal and the spiritual. The carnal nature of man starves for self-glorification, while the heaven born spiritual nature strives to glorify God and the Lord Jesus Christ. One who must constantly be fed recognition to continue in the way of righteousness steals that which does not belong to him. All real glory belongs to God; “self” must be lost in giving glory to God. Honest obedience to the Word and the will of God is done with the thought of “it’s only our duty, for only He is worthy.” The believer gives himself to faithful service so that the Master might be glorified and find no more motivation than love for duty.
If one’s life is spent in the service of the Lord and Master, it is merely spent in doing his just duties. Duty to the Father demands no special acknowledgments. Doing one’s duty is expected of faithful servants. To serve as a living sacrifice that is acceptable unto God is no more and no less than the believer’s reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1) Not to do so is to be unreasonable, and it is to be an evil servant. To do what is commanded is to do one’s duty. Perhaps the atmosphere in the assembly of saints would change if “serving hidden personal agendas” would change to the fulfilling of one’s duty unto the LORD. Being king of the mountain is so insignificant in the shadow of the King of kings upon Mt. Zion. There is only one King in the kingdom.
Duty can either be slavery in the darkest of dungeons because of the lustful pride of the heart, or it can be a celebration of joys because of the love of the heart for the Master. Burdens become menial tasks when yoked with heavenly love. Duty is a matter of the heart! The greater love one has for the King of kings, the greater celebration of joys he has for every opportunity to faithfully complete his duty in fullness of glory to the LORD! Duty with honor is always the mark of a good and faithful servant. To some, “duty” is a harsh demanding word; but for those in love with Jesus, it is a blessed opportunity.
This Pastor's comments confronted me again with a dose of reality with regards to who we are, whose we are, and how we got there!
4 comments:
Thanks for that Tom.
You know, as family men we understand
the idea of being honored by our duty without recognition, but then in relationship to God we tend to make "duty" a dirty word. Thanks for the recalibration.
Craig
Amen Craig,
I need "recalibration" quite often!!
Finally got to read this.
It caused me to think of the fact that man was originally created to have fellowship with and glorify his Creator.
Yet, in sin, we are "cut off" from this natural function and desire.
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit enables us to willingly do the "duty" that we were always meant to do--even if there is currently internal turmoil because the old, sin nature is still kicking.
Anyway, the concept of faithfully serving God being nothing more than He expects makes a lot more sense when I realize that it was what we were created to do in the first place.
Heather
So true Heather,
The renewal of our hearts and minds by the Spirit is what changes our "want to's" and causes us to delight in serving God and to hunger and thirst afyer righteousness!
But, as you noted, the flesh strives against this newness of life and seeks to take control.
This demands of us diligence and discipline as we daily are called upon to mortify the deeds of the flesh through the power of the Spirit.
Thanks be unto God for the Paraklete!
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