What is your motive?
“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied, “Have you not put a hedge around him, and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hand, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” (Job 1:9-11).
The Bible tells us that one day God asked Satan, the accuser of the brethren, where he had been and Satan replied that he had been roaming throughout the earth. God then asks whether Satan had considered his servant Job, “There is no one on earth like him, he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:3). God was boasting about Job to Satan. You see, God knew His servant. Of course, the enemy never gives up and instead replies that the only reason Job is serving God is because of what God has done for him. In order to prove the enemy wrong, God allowed the enemy to afflict Job and within a short space of time Job lost everything he had, his children, servants, flocks, herds, everything. In the midst of it all Job’s only words were “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:29b). God allowed Satan to go further and afflict Job’s body and even when his wife suggested that he curse God, the Bible says “In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.” (Job 2:10b).
Friend, Job proved to the enemy that he had no ulterior motive for serving God. He was not serving God because of what God gave him or did for him. He served God because he knew it was his duty to serve the Lord. The three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Mechack and Abednego, also showed King Nebuchadnezzar that they would serve God and not bow down to any other gods even at the risk of being thrown in the fiery furnace. They declared, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it and He will rescue us from your hand, O King. But even if he does not, we want you to know O king that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18).
We were created to serve God and we are to serve Him at all times no matter what happens. We are not to serve Him selectively. We are not called to serve Him for what we can get from Him or only when the going is good. We should be like the Psalmist, David, who said, “I will extol the Lord at all times and His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34:1)
Friend, what is your motive for serving HIM?
Prayer:
Lord, today we purpose to serve you at all times. Not just in good times but in bad times. We will serve you not just for the things that you have done or for what you will do but because of who you are. You are a great and mighty God, the creator of the universe and you deserve to be worshipped and glorified. Give us a heart like Job, like the three Hebrew children, like David and many others in the Bible who served you faithfully. We thank you for answering this prayer in Jesus Mighty Name. Amen and Amen.
