In His Majesty’s Service

Teddy Roosevelt has been quoted as saying that “comparison is the thief of joy”; but where we really see comparison’s lethality is when we compare the giftings and callings of God in our lives and their effects upon others. Your assignment in his kingdom is distinct, distributed by God to you, and different from the gifts of others in the church. Any gifting given you to build others up comes from the Spirit as he has seen fit; any grace you’ve received to serve comes from the Lord who has served all; and any effectiveness of these on others is empowered by God. How can we boast? How can we disdain? Your talents and abilities are God’s idea.

Have you ever given a gift to someone only to have them hand it back to you because they didn’t find it suitable? It seems, to me at least, that complaining about a gift received is a bit uncouth. God is called the Father of lights and the giver of every good and perfect gift. There is no darkness (or lack) in any gift he has given you; so complaining about his gracious giftings and abilities or naming them unfit for you is out of place. Neither should your giftings and abilities be cause for boasting. No one is great because of their gifting. Be encouraged to hold his gracious bestowments upon you loosely gripped with the attitude of John the Baptist, “He must increase and I must decrease,” and then go and use your gifts in faithful service to the King.

John MacArthur, in his commentary on 1 Corinthians, writes, “God allows us to be where we are and to stay where we are for a purpose.” ² Where were you when the Lord called you into relationship with him? I was in the technical field, and that vocation grew. But it’s not really about the vocation itself, is it? Our trajectory should be towards the end to which God has called us, to fulfill his purpose for us and to be faithful where he has put us until he moves us on. MacArthur continues in his commentary, “We are to leave sin and anything that encourages sin; but otherwise we are to stay where we are until God moves us.” We at times need to resist the greener grass of greater vocation and find contentment and purpose where God has us now. There is value in what you’re good at, where you serve, and what you do for your King.

I believe that every task you set your hand to in service to Christ, no matter how menial in your own eyes, will be abundantly rewarded. You may ask, “Are you saying there’s a reward awaiting me for those blueberry pancakes I just made for my children?” “Do you mean to tell me that God sees those times I help out in nursery?” “Is every line of code I write pleasing to God?” “Let’s be clear,” you may ask, “are you saying that every diaper change, every oil change, every changing of the guard, whatever we do for him wholeheartedly, will not remain rewardless?” Well, what I am saying, and what Scripture tells us, is that we will inherit from the Master we serve, a glorious, “Well done” and eternal joy in his presence. This is your inheritance for service done in the name of the King.

While none of us will ever ascend to the significance of calling that Mary was assigned, all of us should certainly descend to the humility she embodied. In Mary, God chose an unexpected but willing vessel. How would you finish the sentence, “I am the Lord’s …” Frontman? Opening act? First choice? Paul the apostle called himself the Lord’s bond-servant as one given over wholly to his Lord’s will. This puts our giftings into perspective, doesn’t it? Our God-given talents and abilities aren’t meant to serve and lift us, but rather to serve and lift others. “I am the Lord’s servant.” In what areas of your life are you able to say that? I pray that every part of your life will increasingly come to be found in his Majesty’s service.