Our Lord’s Plan For Service

Our Lord’s Plan For Service

Our Lord gave us a three-step plan for service when He said, “Come to Me ... Take My yoke upon you and learn from me ... For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Mt. 11:28-30 NIV).

1. Come To Me
The first step is to come to Jesus. He knows that many of us are sick and tired of life’s “rat-race” so He promises to all “who are weary and burdened ... rest for your souls.” Because so many are weary and burdened, there are always those who will rush in to meet needs, but their cults offer only false satisfaction. According to Walter Martin ( Kingdom of the Cults, p. 19-20, Bethany House, 1982) one of the cults’ “most potent tools is that of theological term switching ... The cults capitalize on the almost total inability of the average Christian to see through their subtle art of redefinition.” They have “utilized the terminology of Christianity, borrowed liberally from the Bible ... and used evangelical cliches and terms wherever possible.” Such “false teachers” of “destructive heresies” (2 Pet. 2:1) do not give rest to the soul as Christ does.

Another trap into which we can easily fall is that of seeking satisfaction in Christ, and something else. Israel fell into this satanic trap – they worshiped God but they also served idols. We can make idols too! We do so by giving improper emphasis to success, things, or “being somebody,” thereby making them into idols. Let’s look at each.

Success: God wants us to have a job to support ourselves and our families. His Word says, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8). It also says, “If a man will not work, he shall not eat” (2 Th. 3:10). He wants us to be diligent and to do our best (Eph. 6:6; Col. 3:22). If we succeed, that’s good; but if our job dominates our life, then it has become an idol.

Things: God also knows that we need things to live. But if we lust after a big house, an expensive car, etc. in order to keep up with others or make them jealous, we have made things into idols. God knows that the wrong attitude toward things does not really satisfy, so His Word tells us this: “Put to death ... lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5).

Being Somebody: The Lord gives us abilities and He wants us to develop and use them, but we can be tempted to want to “be somebody.” We may work hard to “get ahead” but eventually there comes job decline or loss, and retirement, and we go from being “somebody” to “nobody.” Then all our striving becomes useless. God knows that much which attracts us will not bring satisfaction and that’s why His Word tells us three times to “be content whatever the circumstances” (Phil. 4:11; 1 Tim. 6:8; Heb. 13:5).

2. Take My Yoke
It’s human nature to be committed to someone or something for our lives to have purpose. That’s why people commit themselves to such causes as saving the whales, fighting for civil rights, working to elect a certain politician, or even following a certain religious leader. People can deceive themselves into thinking they are serving the Lord when they are merely engaged in a worldly cause. God wants us to commit ourselves to Christ, not men. It’s not enough to have Him as our Savior; He must also be our Lord. The second step in His service plan is that we take up His yoke.

His Yoke: The Lord uses the yoke to symbolize commitment to Him as Lord. A yoke is a piece of wood shaped to fit our shoulders to make it easier to carry things. It is also a piece of wood shaped to fit on the necks of animals to enable them to work together as a team to pull heavier loads. When we are yoked to Christ we have to go where He wants us to go and do what He wants us to do. To enable us to serve Him, He gives us gifts: “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving ... as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:10 NASB). There is great satisfaction in working with Him, and we do not have to worry about whether we have the necessary strength, because we are yoked with Him to carry the load. We are promised that He “is our ... strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear” (Ps. 46:1-2).

Burdens: The Bible is full of accounts of the burdens or troubles endured by those yoked to Him, but it is also full of how God intervened to help them carry those burdens. One source of trouble can come from those who insist that we have to give up things to have Jesus as Lord. While this may be true, their emphasis is often wrong. These people want to impose their “hangups” and rules for living on us. They want us to be conformed to their ideas, but God wants us “to be conformed to the likeness of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). What would our Lord say to these modern day Pharisees? “Woe to you! ... You load people down with burdens they can hardly carry” (Lk. 11:46). He, on the other hand, assures that His “yoke is easy and His burden is light.” Of course we have to give up sinning but that’s not really giving anything up. Didn’t we come to the Lord as Savior because we wanted to be delivered from sin? He will help us overcome sin.

3. Learn From Me
Coming to Him and taking up His yoke are two necessary steps, but to be profitable servants we also have to take the third step – learn from Him. How do we do this? First, we keep company with other Christians. God’s Word says that “a righteous man is cautious in friendship” (Prov. 12:26) and also that “bad company corrupts good character” (1 Cor. 15:33). The Bible also encourages us to make a habit of meeting together regularly (Heb. 10:25) to learn from our Lord in Sunday school, Bible study groups, preaching and teaching meetings.

We often think that serving the Lord means speaking publicly. But consider Paul’s new life. On the way to Damascus he was saved and called to preach. But did he immediately start preaching? No! He waited three years, during which time he did as the Lord said: “Learn from me.” We have to learn from Him in order to become one “who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). And that takes time!

We are also instructed as follows: “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God” (1 Pet. 4:11). To do this requires that we study and learn from the Lord. God can use an extemporaneous speaker, but He most often uses those who know the Word and are prepared.

God’s Word makes much of serving, which is more than speaking publicly. It says, “If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 4:11). This suggests that we look for all opportunities to serve. We should be willing to do whatever the Lord gives us to do – even menial work.

The Lord taught this by His own example: “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet” (Jn. 13:14). He also told us that “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mt. 20:28). And He taught us by the example of the early Church: “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need” (Acts 2:44-45).

When there was work to be done, God told the apostles to choose people who were “full of the Spirit and wisdom” (Acts: 6:1-4). And what do you think such special people were asked to do? Preach and teach? No! They were asked to wait on tables. Get the point?

Start Today!
Through Paul, God says, “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord.” Why? “Because our labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). Those who are serving now can tell you that there is great reward. And yet the Lord promises more. He says, “Behold I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done” (Rev. 22:12).

Trust Him, and start following His three-step plan for service today. He will keep His promise.

By Alan H. Crosby