ESOCS Devotional 4 October 2023 – The Quality and Joyful Service
MEMORY VERSE: “Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the King also rejoiced with great joy.” 1 Chronicle 29:9
TEXT: 1 CHRONICLES 29:1-9 (NIV)
Then King David said to the whole assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God. 2 With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities. 3 Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple:4 three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, 5 for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?”
6 Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. 7 They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron. 8 Anyone who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite.9 The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
In service, two things are very basically obvious – the quality and how it is rendered. Quality services are always admirable. And the way it is rendered can make it enjoyable. A quality service can be messed up by a bad or wrong attitude. While the enjoyment that a right attitude can bring, can be ruined by a poor service. Therefore, a combination of quality and right attitude makes any service delivered good and enjoyable.
We are God’s creatures created for His pleasure (Rev. 4:11). We are to bring this pleasure to God by relating with Him in worship and service. In fact, worship and service are inseparable. Worship is an expression of service to God. The life of father Abraham shows this: “…and there he builded an Altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.” Here, Genesis 12:8c shows us that Abraham became a worshipper of the LORD. In another place he was described as faithful by God “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment” (Gen. 18:19).
Then later in Gen. 26:5 God further described him thus “Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandment, my statues, and my laws”. Here shows that he followed God’s instructions. Then in Genesis 26:24 God called him his servant. “And the LORD appeared unto him (Isaac) the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.”
Following the tread of passages above we can say, service to God is a combination of the following worship, faithfulness and following instructions.
Worship – In this we express our devotion to God, submission to God and communion with God with humility. It is an everyday and moment activities.
Faithfulness – Our loyalty, sincerity and purity with God is established in His keeping grace.
Following Instruction – these talks about obedience to His commandment and also how we carry out activities He assigns to us according to His will and directions. Regarding this God said, “…Abraham obeyed my voice …”
Beloved, service is what we owe God. Reading through our text 1 Chronicles 29:1 – 9 we saw that King David and his people offered service to God. The service they rendered can be described as quality – they made quality and costly provisions for the building of the temple. They brought their best and offered unto the LORD. And they did it joyfully. How were they able to do it? They did so by;
- Beloved, what is the state of your heart as you offer services to God?
- Father LORD God, thank you for the gift of Lord Jesus Christ to us that we may have life to render quality and joyful service to You. Amen.
FURTHER READING: 2 Chronicles 12:1– end; Esther 3:7 – 4:3; Luke 23:44–56
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ESOCS Devotional 4 October 2023
