TRUE SERVICE

By A. W. Tozer

Any serious-minded Christian may at some time find himself wondering
whether the service he is giving to God is the best it could be.  He may
even have times of doubting, and fear that his toil is fruitless and his
life empty.

This is not as bad as it sounds, and may actually prove to be an
excellent thing for him -- if he knows how to use it.

Christian service, like every other phase of religion, can become a very
hollow affair.  The church has marked out certain work and approved it
as service acceptable to God, and for the most part the church has
been right.  But it should be kept in mind that it is not the kind or
quantity of work that makes it true service -- it is the quality.

Before the judgment seat of Christ, very little will be heard of numbers
or size; moral quality is about all that will matter then.  If we are wise
we will give attention now to the quality of our service; it is obvious
that it will be too late to do anything about it when the service is
ended and the account rendered up.

The great weight of exhortation these days is in the direction of zeal
and activity.  "Let's get going" is the favorite watchword for gospel
workers, with the result that everyone feels ashamed to sit down and
think.  But it will pay to do it, nevertheless.

It would be a shock to most of us to learn just what God thinks of our
breathless activity, and a greater shock to many to find out the true
quality of our service as God sees it.  For not all religious activity is
accepted of God, not even when it appears to produce results and
get things done.  The Lord seeth not as man seeth.

Christian service, to be accepted of God, must be fresh and sincere.
Whatever is done out of habit is not approved; anything done in a
perfunctory manner is below the level of quality expected of us.
The careless song, the sermon preached for no higher reason than
because it is Sunday again, the tithe tossed into the plate, the
testimony given because it seems the thing to do --- not one of
these will stand up under the searching eyes of God.

In Christian service motive is everything, for it is motive that
gives to every moral act its final quality.

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Yours in Christ,
Paul N. F.