Preparing to Serve? – The Third Commandment

Preparing to Serve?

Exodus 20:7

“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”

As those who have the Name of God upon us, our calling in life boils down to two challenges: how we prepare, and how we serve.

The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit (Rom. 14:17).  In our daily preparations we seek to gain the understandings, attitudes, and priorities we will need in order to make sure that, in our lives, we serve others for the glory of the Lord.  We should not be going out into our spheres of influence each day–our Personal Mission Field–looking for others to serve us.  We are called to serve, to demonstrate the reality of God’s Name upon us, His power at work within us, His Kingdom guiding and directing us–this King ruling and loving through us. As we serve others, we reveal that hope that we have within us (1 Peter 3:15), and we demonstrate to everyone around us that we inhabit a new reality, one where beauty, goodness, truth, and love are the order of the day.

“You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain.”  Instead, take it with the purpose of advancing His Kingdom.  Daily prepare and daily serve so that King Jesus might be exalted in you.

Would you describe your attitude toward the people in your sphere of influence as one of service?  Would they describe your relationship with them as one of being a servant?  How might you begin to improve this for Jesus’ sake?

Lord, what opportunities will I have today to serve others? Help me to…

Daily meditation in the Law of God helps us along the path of holiness, righteousness, and goodness (Rom. 7:12). Order your copy of The Law of God, a compilation of the Mosaic Law for contemporary believers, by going to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.