“Serve the LORD with gladness and delight; Come before His presence with joyful singing.” – Psalm 100:2, AMP

The title of this psalm is; ‘A Psalm of thanksgiving.’

According to the psalmist, “serving the Lord with gladness and delight” is an act of thanksgiving.

Once in a while, I get people asking me when I’ll start ‘serving God full-time.’

That’s one of the misconceptions about the notion of ‘serving God’ – thinking that to serve God is to be busy doing some form of work in our local Church – preaching, music, teaching, ushering, cleaning, administration, etc.

However, that is not entirely true.

Whereas there are individuals who have been called to serve in the church on a full-time basis in specific ministry offices, that doesn’t exclude the rest (who are the majority).

When the psalmist in our meditation today admonished the people to “serve God with gladness,” he was not implying that they should all quit their ‘secular’ work and go to work in the temple on a full-time basis.

Indeed, Mary, the mother of Jesus, described herself as the “servant of the Lord” though there is no record of her ever working in the temple.

Another common misconception is that serving God is primarily about performing specific rituals or diligently following certain religious practices, rules and traditions.

While rituals may be important, the Bible teaches that serving God involves a broader commitment to the fear of God, which manifests through how we related with our fellow human beings through compassion and justice.

Serving the Lord means dedicating oneself to living in accordance to divine values – basically a life that honours and glorifies God in this world. 

What this means is that for instance when a Christian politician faithfully represents his or her constituents and ensures that they get the services they need to live a better life, he or she is serving God.

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

When a Christian nurse works faithfully to ensure that her patients get proper treatment and care, she is serving the Lord.

The same applies to other Christian workers in their respective vocations.

When you give money to support God’s work and build God’s kingdom, you’re serving God. 

Deuteronomy 28:47-48 says; “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance, you will serve the enemies whom the LORD will send against you.”

Our Lord Jesus said, He “did not come to be served but to serve.” He said that to show that He was our example in serving others.

When we serve others in the fear of God, we are serving God!

Galatians 5:13–14 says; “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Whatever gift or talent that God has given you is for serving others. That’s how we prove our faithfulness to the One who gave it to us.

1 Peter 4:10 says; “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

If you’re a Christian worker, do your job “as unto the Lord.”

Additionally, try to find a team in your local fellowship on which you can serve the people of God outside your workplace.

Like we saw at the beginning, serving is how we show our gratitude to our loving Father.