Living For No Good Reason?
I really felt let down by God. He made me mad. Everything I had hoped and dreamed of had caved in. I was struggling with depression that I had set myself up for. Why? Because I was serving God for a reason. Did you realize you don’t need a reason to serve God? Satan found out that Job was serving God for no apparent reason.
Worship, with no good reason
Job was a wealthy man who lived long ago. He had several very well-balanced, affectionate children and a thriving business. Life could not be better. The accuser looked at his life and said to the Lord, “Is Job serving you for no apparent reason? Hah! He only respects you because his life is so cushy. Let me take away all the nice things of life and he will curse You.” (my paraphrase, see Job 1:9-11 for the actual conversation).
So, the accuser invaded Job’s life and destroyed everything enjoyable about it. Job’s reaction is shocking. He knelt to the ground and said, “I came into this world with nothing and I will leave with nothing. The Lord gives and He takes away. May the name of the Lord be lifted up.” (my paraphrase, see Job 1:21 for his actual words).
Needing a good reason?
Most of us came to the Lord hoping to get something out of the relationship. We needed deliverance from drugs, hope through a financial crisis, or help with a marriage gone sour. We came to God broken and desperate. However, throughout our walk with God, we have to grow from being dependent babies only thinking about our own needs, to being mature friends. Who learn to enjoy the Lord just for who He is and not what we get out of the arrangement.
Many things in life happen for no good reason. Will you serve God, even if there were no good reason? Would you love Him anyway, even if you got nothing out of it? That is how He loves us. Think of what He gets from His love for us? Do we add anything to God? Like buying a birthday present for a millionaire, what do you get for someone who already has it all? God’s love is in our best interest, not for His self-serving ends. We should love Him the same way. Of course, loving the Lord brings all kinds of benefits for which we can be thankful.
Love God, for no apparent reason
You have done many things in life for no apparent reason. Afterward, you may have asked yourself, “What was I thinking?” What if you grew to love the Lord like that? You can serve God for no apparent reason. If your relationship with the Lord is based on what you expect from Him, you will end up one day where I was—questioning Him and bargaining with Him because I wasn’t getting what I expected in life. Since then, I have learned that no matter what state I am in, God is going to get my worship. If I am sick, I am going to praise Him anyway. If the money is short, I will lift my hands and worship Him. If my plans come crashing through, I love Him and serve Him for no apparent reason.
Is there no good reason to serve the Lord? There are millions of good reasons to serve the Lord. However, the only motivation we need to serve Him is love. We love Him because He first loved us. That is reason enough!
1 Comment
That is beautiful. It is very important to reflect upon the calling of God who called us to himself and gathering of the saints our inheritance is Him. When all fades and I stand before the Lord whom am I, am I a parasite whom just came looking for self gain or desire to know Him more and more each and every day of my life, be transformed by His knowledge and become in His likeness and image and also experience the power there in His resurrection full consumed in His immortality forever. Something God is doing far beyond the initial salvation but deep commitment of maturity and expression of God in the earth till his final purpose are completed and we say IT IS FINISHING AND HE SAYS WELL……. DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS.