What Does God Ask of You.. by Jason G. Lutz

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul… (Deuteronomy 10:12)

I am going to go out on a limb, one that might not be too far. I am going to say that in the Church we disdain the ideal behind the term servant. We could possibly discuss showmanship in music and speaking. We could possibly discuss an obsession with collecting funds eagerly and spending them sparingly. We could possibly discuss the publication of books which satisfy us emotionally while providing no challenge. We could discuss much, but to do so would deflect responsibility away from ourselves and we would be in error.

I would bet most of us are quite good at recognizing God as Creator and Sustainer of life. I would bet that most of us play by the rules. I know we all cheer when a call is made to love God first. I imagine few, if any, of us base each daily decision around the question, “does this please my Master and advance His Kingdom”?

Understood simply, sin wars against our ability to live by this question, our ability to humble ourselves before the Throne. It was a struggle for Israel, it is a struggle for the Church; thereby, it is a struggle for each of us. Admitting that it is so is the first step to battling it. In our sinfulness, we want to rule ourselves and others; Nietzsche may have been lost in Tibet, but he painted a fair picture of the sinful man. Perhaps a more modern understanding might suggest we want to please ourselves and for others to be pleasing to us.

The servant’s role is simply to please the Master. Moses tells us to serve/please the Lord with all our heart and with all our soul. Ah! But this is the best news possible! For every time we turn toward him, in any decision no matter how small, the Sons of God shout for Joy! Our Master is easy to please, all we do in service to Him is remembered. And His desire to have us at our best knows no limits. There is no need here to strive and seek for self-satisfaction or acceptance, it is all quite freely given.