We are not expected to be what someone else is. Reasonable service is on our own level. Bob’s level is not mine nor is mine his. I’m responsible to the Lord for mine not anyone else’s. God has a job for each of us. You and your job are as important to God as Billy Graham and Dwight L. Moody’s jobs were to each of them. God deals with individuals, and we deal with him as an individual.
Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”
Some people will reach their level of service. Some won’t. Is it God’s fault? No. If God has his way, everyone would reach his or her own level. If one doesn’t achieve his level, blame cannot be put on the pastor, the wife or the husband. God has never asked anyone to serve at a level for which he didn’t equip the person to do it. Moses kept telling the Lord he couldn’t do this or that, yet God supplied him with everything he needed to do his job. Some just won’t try. We will, however, give an account of our service.
What is the nature of reasonable service? It’s a living sacrifice, a presentation. We present ourselves to the Lord. It’s finding the will of God. If everyone in this church said “here am I, send me” this whole area could be revolutionized.
It’s a holy sacrifice. The animals offered to God were without spot or blemish. There was no second-best-giving. It was first or nothing. God says we have to love him more than our child, our spouse, and more than ourselves. Otherwise we’re not worthy to walk in him. When we love him first, we can love everybody else as much as we want, and it will be all right. Seek him and his righteousness first. If it was necessary for Jesus to put the Father first, it’s necessary for us too. God expects us to be at our level of reasonable service.
It’s a willingness to sacrifice. So, what are you supposed to do? Are you willing to do it?
There are results to reasonable service. God never asks us to do more than is necessary. When we do what he asks, it will transform our lives. We do away with the old and take on the new. We walk in newness of life. Nicodemus saw Jesus and knew he needed something he couldn’t find in the Sanhedrin. Did he get what he came for? I believe he did. He came openly to beg for the body of Jesus after his death. God transformed him and used him in his service.
Reasonable service brings out pure love. Do you love the Lord more than you love your bank account, yourself, your fishing pole, or race day? David respected the level God put him on, and he protected the level God put King Saul on. He could have killed Saul, but his love for God stopped him. If anyone had the right to brag, John the Baptist did. He was kin to Jesus. He was the forerunner. What did he do? He said “I must decrease.” John knew his role, and he did it.
A dew drop or a thunderstorm—both can be used for God’s glory. What God wants of you is what he expects of you. It’s not the preacher’s level or the singer’s level that you must worry about. What’s your level of service? That’s what God wants—the reasonable service he expects you to do.
The message was brought by Brother Jack Sprinkle.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 