The New Testament tells us God “has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” Acts 17:31. The Man God ordained is, of course, Jesus Christ. “For we must all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things (reward or punishment- t.t) done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” 2.Cor.5:10.

Those who have believed in Christ and faithfully followed Him will rejoice on that day for they will hear Him say, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” Matt.25:34. The rest who had not believed and refused to obey will be very disappointed, for they will hear Jesus say, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” Matt.25:41.

The disappointed are those “who do not know God, and on those who do obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” for “these shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” 2.Thes.1:8-9. This lost group falls into two classes. One class are those who the Lord “never knew” (they never acknowledged Him, so He never recognized them) and the second class, to whom the Lord says, “I know you not” are those who believed but failed to remain prepared and faithful, so the Lord no longer acknowledges them as His people Matt.25:13

Jesus indicates in His “Sermon on the Mount” that the lost souls will try to argue with Him because of their sentence of condemnation at the judgment. He says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” Matt.7:21-23.

Their arguments at the judgment show they didn’t want to be lost but insisted on being saved on their own terms, not the Lord’s. They may argue “until they are blue in the face” about being lost but they will still lose the argument. In reality, people will have no excuse for their failure to believe in and obey Jesus Christ. Jesus clearly points out that only those who do His will and obey His commands will be saved Matt.7:21; Lk.6:46; Heb.5:9   Don’t think you can argue with Christ and win. You will lose and be lost for eternity!!!.  – end –

HOW DO YOU SERVE GOD?

I have observed through the years that many people who claim to serve God have a superficial type religion (form without substance). Paul saw this in his day. He wrote that a lot of people have “a form of godliness while denying its power. From such people turn away!” 2.Tim.3:5. To Titus he wrote many “profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work” Tit.1:16.

Such people go through the motions of serving God but only at their convenience. Their service and worship, when they find the time, is lackadaisical and unenthusiastic. They just drift along, feeling self-satisfied and complacent with their spiritual lives. They want to be known as real believers but show little interest in getting fully involved in the work of the church.  They find all kinds of excuses for not fulfilling their responsibilities as Christians. They express a critical attitude toward the members who actually put forth more effort, and even find fault with the church for being too strict in following the Bible.

What is wrong with such people? They have the wrong motivation. They want the assurance of salvation but demonstrate little enthusiasm and conviction about what they profess They find very little joy in serving the Lord. They want a religion of convenience and search for excuses to avoid their responsibilities. They want God, but only if He will accept them on their terms. They have a religion that is self-centered. They are tuned into a life that centers in, “what’s in it for me.” They are focused on the wrong thing, just as some were in Jesus’ day. He said, “you seek Me, not because you saw the signs , but because you ate the loaves and were filled”.Jn:6:26. They only followed Him as long as they could get something from Him physically. Real commitment was not part of their activity. This type of service won’t work. Jesus pointed out that this superficial service was worthless. To this same group of people He pointed that true commitment to Him involved absorbing His life into theirs, spiritually “eating of His flesh, drinking of His blood” Jn.6:51-56. They decided this was too hard for them so they turned away Jn.6:60. One must have a faith that is fully committed to diligently seek after God Heb.11:6.

After reading the above thoughts answer the title question, “How do you serve God?” Can you really say you are fully committed to serving God? That’s what it takes. When Jesus was asked, what was the greatest commandment He replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (emphasis mine-t.t). Matt.22:37. I believe you can understand the word “all” in the text means full love and commitment to God, not a superficial one of pretense, form without substance.  <Tommy Thornhill>