God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
Ephesians 1:5 (NLT)
Does the thought of serving God energize you?
If you’re serving God and helping out in your church because you’re frantically trying to be a good Christian to earn brownie points with God and other people, you’re going to
burn out. On the other hand, if you do so
because you’ve grown to love with Jesus and now you just want to serve to give back, your serving will energize you.
As you increase your understanding of Jesus’ love and what He accomplished for you, you’re going to get more excited about serving Him.
The truth is that your relationship with
God was purchased by Jesus. He made it
possible for you to be adopted into God’s
family, as it says in our verse today. You are right with God because of Jesus. You don’t earn a relationship with God through serving, but He does empower you to serve.
Are there going to be times when you don’t feel like helping others or volunteering at your church? Of course. Very often discipline and obedience need to trump feelings, but it’s amazing what happens when you take that step. You discover energy you didn’t know you had and a joy and sense of fulfilment that are worth every bit of effort you put in.
Never forget that Jesus making you right with God isn’t the only thing Jesus did for you. A relationship with Him also empowers you to do right, and a life of serving Him is the best kind of life you could ever live.