Ready to Serve?

But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house. And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people.    Ezekiel 3:24-25 ESV

(See also Ezekiel 3:26-27, 4:4-12, 24:15-18; Jeremiah 27:1-2; Isaiah 20:2-3; Hosea 1:2, 3:1-2)

It's that time of year again...

My annual read through the Bible has me at that point where the Lord is giving odd, difficult, uncomfortable, and humiliating assignments to the prophets.  These assignments are so very different from what comes to my mind when I think about the ways I'd like to serve God!

And that is probably where my thinking really begins to go awry.

By definition, "service" has very little - nothing, really - to do with what I would like.  Service is about someone else.  It's about following someone else's instructions.  To serve is to set aside what I want or think in order to fulfill another's request or interest.

Webster's definition of serve is to work for; to labor in behalf of; to exert one's self continuously or statedly for the benefit of; to do service for; to be in the employment of, as an inferior...

So quite simply, doing "what I want" is not really service at all.

In my morning Scripture reading, I saw Ezekiel get instructions about being tied up in his own house, unable to speak except when God would temporarily heal his tongue long enough for him to share a prophecy.  After getting free from that assignment, Ezekiel was sent to lie on his left side, again tied up so that he couldn't turn over.  Thankfully he'd only be stuck in that position for a little over a year (390 days), and then he'd be allowed to turn over on his right side for forty more days!  He was instructed to measure out about a cup of food to eat daily, prepared in a most unappetizing manner (see Ezekiel 4:12-15), and he would have less than three cups of water to drink each day.  

Around the same time this was going on with Ezekiel, Jeremiah was given the privilege (?!) of putting an ox yoke (a big, heavy wooden collar) and walking around with that on his neck.

Plenty of other unpleasant instructions were given to the prophets.  Isaiah was called to walk around naked and barefoot for three years.  Hosea was instructed to marry a prostitute, and when she left him to return to prostitution, God told Hosea to bring her back and continue to love her.  Ezekiel will eventually lose his wife as a sign to rebellious people, and he will be denied the chance to mourn the loss.  

That is what service looked like for the prophets.  

It wasn't Christian service as we think of it today.  We think that we are "serving God" when we "give up" two hours a month to help out in some area of ministry in our local churches.  Posting Scripture on social media, giving a couple of bucks to the homeless guy on the street corner, volunteering to help at some church event, bringing a dish for the potluck - these are our acts of service.  

And these are certainly good things to do.  I don't mean to suggest that anyone should stop doing these things.

But I wonder...

Is it really fair to consider these little token actions "service"?

And so, I'm torn.  When I pray that God would open doors for me to serve Him, am I really prepared for Him to answer?  Truthfully, I want to do things that are pleasant and that fall into the category of "things I enjoy."  I'd kind of like to serve in fun and convenient times and ways.

I'm not really here with any sort of answers today.  This is just something I'm thinking about, and something I would challenge us all to think about a bit more seriously.  What are we really prepared to do to serve God?

We are living in unusual times.  Provision and comfort look a little different each day.  And as Christians, none of this should really take us by surprise.

So today, let's take an honest look at what following the Lord really looks like.  Let's not fall into disillusionment and discouragement as life happens and things don't play out in the ways that we'd hoped.  As we remember the prophets, let's be grateful for the relative comfort God has afforded us, while seeking to know and serve Him better.

...Just a thought...