Service with a Smile

(photo: my mom, Bachi, with Alyssa, age ten)
Deuteronomy 28:47-48
Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, 
for the abundance of all things; 
⁴⁸Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies 
which the LORD shall send against thee, 
in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, 
and in want of all things: 
and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, 
until he have destroyed thee.

There are two ways to look at how we fulfill our Christian responsibilities and obedience to commands - Service or Slavery.  I have had many "slavery" moments, when I felt like I (alone) was "suffering for Jesus", going without sleep, monetary gain, recognition, answering the phone at all hours, etc... Those are and were miserable times.

Evidently the Lord was not pleased with His children in this passage.  He had given them the abundance of all things, protection, and guidance.  Their attitude was not one of joy or gladness of heart, it must have been the opposite - like mine sometimes...

So, he let them know in advance that the hunger, thirst, nakedness, a yoke of iron, want of all things, and destruction He would be sending their way would be a direct result of this attitude.  I have tried not to judge the children of Israel too harshly,  they did not have the Bible in completion and in their laps as we now have ours.  We are so much more accountable because of the knowledge we've been given but that's another devotional.

I can almost understand being less than joyful when you have to walk a half a mile to get water to brush your teeth, oh, never mind, they didn't have tooth brushes!  Here, today, in 2010, with our electricity, phones, cell phones, cars, computers, printers, copy machines, fax machines, air conditioning, heating, Iphones, ready-to-bake cookies, Kindles, Canon cameras with humongous lenses, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, indoor plumbing, etc...let us serve the Lord with JOYFULNESS and GLADNESS OF HEART!  What is the big deal?  Why do we get so cranky? 

Maybe it's too much Bible knowledge and not enough labor, or too much labor and not enough Bible knowledge, too much "want" and not enough "getting", or too much work and not enough time to pray.  Write our your schedule, mark the times when your joy runs out.  Is it teaching five piano lessons in a row?  Cut back to four in a row.  Is it after three hours of non-stop typing?  Cut back to two hours and fifty-nine minutes of non-stop typing.  Is it when your child is punished at school?  Don't get made at the school, take care of it at home and they'll be glad to get punished at school!  Analyze your crankiness, find the cause, and STOP IT!  Just stop it!  That's our family's new motto for any problem. :)

If your joy leaves in response to a direct commandment in Scripture that's a different ballgame.  If soul winning, Bible reading, prayer time, church attendance, submission to authority, obeying laws, etc... takes your "joy", maybe your "joy maker" is broken or needs an adjustment.  Selfishness and rebellion do a lot of damage to our emotional responses.  Did I say "rebellion", that's what it is, plain and simple.  Non-submission is rebellion.  Disobedience is.... sin.  Did I say "sin", this is supposed to be a nice, lady-like devotional.  These things hidden under our "service" to God are the "joy-zappers".  Again, just stop it.  Give everything to God, your wants, your plans, your controlling nature, your agenda, and your calendar.  Again, just stop it and smile.

If you've decided to give your life to God or if you are already one of His servants, it's up to you...Service or Slavery?  If I live to be seventy, I have twenty-three years left on this earth.  I want them to be happy and blessed years, months, days, and minutes of walking with the Lord.  Let's decide to serve with a smile!