Service as Worship

I’ve been reading a book on worship, justice and evangelism. As many books as I read on the subjects I can never seem to get enough. They just help me to continue to cast vision and dream about the possibilities God has in store. They remind me to keep my eyes open to what God is doing and to continue asking for God’s direction in what he would have me do, where and how.

I have always been someone who enjoys serving, but I do often fall into deriving my value from it.

As I make plans to move to Zambia permanently later this year, yes- because I’m getting married, but also because it’s where I believe God has called me to serve, I can’t help but think about the past when I had wanted so badly to devote my life to service in teaching and yet I got burned out and discouraged. I have often reflected on that experience and have come to realize that somewhere along the way between all the studying and lesson plans, I had put serving before my relationship with God. I made teaching my first priority, what I would devote my life to in order to give it value.

As I finished up this book called When Necessary Use Words, the author ended with a very important point. While justice, evangelism and service are all important facets of living a Christian life, they should never replace our worship of God. Our purpose in doing these things is worship of God; He is where we get the strength to serve with a joyful heart. My first priority is to love and worship God for who He is. Service flows out of worship and we shouldn’t replace our relationship with God with acts of service in His name. Though I am most definitely sure that at times it will still be hard and draining, I am no longer concerned about my ability to serve well and plenty.

 

In other news, I’m learning to cook and bake from scratch, which I am surprised to be really enjoying. I’ve found some great recipes for cookies and breads on the internet. This week, I made banana bread, which called for buttermilk. It’s not something you can buy at the grocery here. So I looked up how to make it online; I put fresh cream in a jar and shook it until I was left with butter and buttermilk. I was doubtful that I’d have enough arm power to do it. I was so giddy when I’d succeeded! And the bread was yummy, if I do say so myself.