Serve the Lord

Serve the Lord

Make sure that, in your doing and walking, you are always serving the Lord.

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God….” Deuteronomy 10:12

The word “serve” is a framework verb. Its purpose is to remind us what is to be the proper orientation of all our “doing” and “walking.” We do not learn the Law of God and use it to plan our day and carry out our plans merely as an end in itself, or for our own advantage. Our purpose in all we do, throughout every step of our walk, is to serve the Lord.

Serving the Lord presupposes that we know Him, fear and love Him, and desire to do His will above our own or any other, because we realize that all His ways are true and right and just. As we serve the Lord we further His purpose, which is to glorify Himself so that others might know Him as well. There is no greater joy and no higher privilege than to know the Lord, and it pleases God that others should come to know Him by the way we His people live our lives (1 Pet. 3:15).

All our daily actions, everything we “do” as we pursue our “walk” each day has the potential to honor the Lord and advance His purpose. The Law of God defines the practical ways He intends for us to glorify Him in our words and deeds. Paul explained that our lives could be a “living sacrifice” to the Lord (Rom. 12:1, 2). This will surely be the case as we keep focused on Him and determined to carry out His purposes and pleasure in all we do (Phil. 2:12, 13).

Each of us has a “walk” unique to his calling from the Lord. That walk involves us in “doing” many different things. With God as the North Star in all our doing and walking, we can glorify Him and advance His purposes every day of our lives.

For a more complete exposition of the promises of God, order a copy of T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store. Subscribe to Crosfigell, the devotional newsletter of The Fellowship of Ailbe. Sent to your desktop every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Crosfigell includes a devotional based on the literature of the Celtic Christian period and the Word of God, highlights of other columns at the website, and information about mentoring and online courses available through The Fellowship.

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