When I was in high school, I asked my youth pastor a question. At the time, I was a "good girl". I even had a t-shirt that said I was, and had a group of friends with those t-shirts, too. It's funny now, but it was just a fad then. I remember this question because I was confused about things I'd grown up in church learning and wanted to know basic answers to what life was all about. I didn't understand why some people could be blessed so much, and still follow the ways of the world, while I was trying so hard to be holy and didn't seem or feel blessed at all.
"What difference does it make if I am good or not?"
In other words, what good is it for me to be good? WHY follow Jesus? WHY serve God?
And for the next 5-10 years, I searched for those answers. Searching is good. I'm still searching and will never have all of the answers until I die. But that was/is part of my experience, my testimony, my journey to my salvation. [By the way, my youth pastor didn't answer me. I'm not sure if he didn't know how to answer me or if I seemed pious and judgmental as I asked, but I remember feeling embarrassed that I asked. A lesson for youth pastors: I Peter 3:15]
The first answers came as I wanted to know what GRACE was all about. That was the first word I studied in-depth. Then I studied FAITH, which is being sure of you what you hope for and certain of what you cannot see. (Use Beth Moore's Believing God study for a good reference or just Hebrews 11.) This belief I have in God is based on the faith I have in Him and His word....who He says He is (God IS Love & then I studied His names in the OT- Kay Arthur has a study called Lord, I Want to Know You that I have done 3 times and still would do again.) When you study His names, you also are studying His promises in His Word. They go hand in hand. Then I studied my identity in Christ, finding in His Word every time it says "I am..." or "We are...".
I am changed into a new creation of flesh and spirit because of the Holy Spirit's dwelling in me as soon as I let Him in. This FAITH increases every time I put my FAITH in Him and let Him work in my life. By His GRACE I am saved from myself and the pit of sin I lived in. The pit of sin was darkness, loneliness and an emptiness in the hole of my soul. It's pull on my life made me feel worthless, like there was no way I could continue on in this life. What I learned later was, if I wasn't serving God....I was serving Satan by default. God placed that hole in my soul, then waited as a groom waits for His bride, as a gentleman, and when I found out I couldn't live without Him anymore, He rescued me. He picked me up, dusted me off, turned me around and said "There is a difference and I AM the difference." I've learned that it isn't about being good, it's about being God's.
I love knowing that someday because I have FAITH in the eternal inheritance He has waiting for me when I die, that I will see what I've been hoping for and certain of. I will see Him: my Savior, my Father, my Teacher, my Friend, my love.
Malachi 3: 14 "You have said, 'It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty? 15 But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.' "
16 Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.
17 "They will be mine," says the LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked [translated in hebrew as "restless"--translated by Sal as trying everything to fill that void other than the One who created it.] between those who serve God and those who do not.
I found this the other day and it reminded me of this question and how sometimes we forget why we're serving God when the people of the world look like they're being blessed, whether they are serving Him or not. We don't see the big picture, but He does and trusting that He does is another part of my FAITH. I love being His "treasured possession".
Thank you God for inviting me to serve You. It's an honor to be Yours.
If you want to hear more stories of those who've chosen to serve God, spend some time here.
