Joshua 24:15

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"Choose you this day whom ye will serve." Jos 24:15

There is a point at which all religion becomes voluntary. There is a sense in which natural religion is not voluntary, although there is a strained sense in which a contention may be set up for its voluntariness. The whole value of spiritual religion consists in its expressing the supreme desire of the heart. An appeal is thus made to reason, inasmuch as man is called upon to make a choice. To make a choice means, in other words, to examine, to attach values, weigh one thing against another, and to pronounce on rational grounds for the election of a certain course of conduct. A beautiful union of words is here found, namely, "choose," and "serve." Here is a beautiful instance of voluntary slavery. There is a service that is merely of the eye, regulated by selfish considerations and determined by self-indulgence: that service is of no account in the sanctuary: it is a vain oblation, and is rejected by God. The apostles did not hesitate to describe themselves as "slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ;" the word slave seems to mean more than servant, and it was after that further and deeper meaning, that the apostles strained themselves when they described their service as slavery. There is a slavery of love. Love can never rise too early, or toil too severely, or give too lavishly; it lives to give; it lives to gratify others; its joy would be taken away if its service could be limited. In such a case as is referred to in the text, "service" must not be taken as a merely intellectual or ceremonial relation, it means downright hard work, genuine obedience, hearty devotion, complete, unsparing, and joyous consecration. The profession of religion may be an aggravation of immorality. To profess and not to do is to be guilty of the blackest falsehood. Great mistakes about the service of God must be cleared away: it is a mistake, for example, to suppose that we may serve God by singing hymns, attending services, and patronising ministers, when in doing all this we only gratify our own desires without exposing ourselves to a single pang or loss. Exercises of this kind must be taken as merely part of the great consecration. The beauty is not the flower, nor is it the fragrance; there must be root-life, hidden sources of nutriment, and direct connection with the sun. We cannot serve God if we are not living in God, and God is not living in us. To serve God is to bring the spirit into activity at every possible point of life, thinking good, doing good, and. where necessary, suffering for good. The greatness of this service may be seen in the fact that it is always associated in Christian teaching with concentration. Jesus Christ said, Ye cannot serve God and mammon, as ye cannot be going east and west at the same time. Here, therefore, the meaning clearly is that divine service means undivided concentration, complete and absolute devotion to the will of God. In view of this definition (a definition realised only by the Lord Jesus Christ) let every man say how far he is worthy to be called a servant of the living God.