Did you know that Jesus called his followers to serve God when he said to them: “You are the light of the world and the salt of the earth? (Matthew 4:13)
Allow me ten minutes of your precious time for us to consider the true meaning of serving God as we turn to the passage below.
Then Nebuchadnezar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.” -Daniel 3:28.
It is remarkable that king Nebuchadnezar referred to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as servants of God, yet the three men were administrators over the province of Babylon (Daniel 2:49). Evidently, he did not call them servants of God because they were ordained into ministry and serving in church (es). He called them servants of God because he actually saw them serve their God in everyday living.
Yes, you don’t have to be a pastor, elder or deacon to be a servant of God. You can serve God anywhere and anytime you have an opportunity -every day is an opportunity. How did the three men serve God? By trusting in him and defying the king’s command that “all peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worship the image of gold that king Nebuchadnezar had set up”. (Daniel 3:7). We are told that whoever did not fall down and worship was to be thrown into a blazing furnace. We are also told that those who came up with the idea of the golden statue knew that the three men were certainly not going to bow down and worship it, which reminds me the question one preacher/teacher asked: “If I were to be found guilty for being a Christian I wonder if they would be enough evidences to convict me!”….
See, trust in God is the hallmark of a servant of God. It is active in the sense that it is reflected by what you do and the choices you make daily. For the three men, trusting God meant not serving or worshipping any god except their own God, which is, defying the king’s command despite the threat of the blazing furnace (fire).
I could not help noticing the difference between the three men’s experience and the temptation of Jesus in the desert (Matthew 4:8-9). King Nebuchadnezar used threat to get the three men to worship his statue, but the devil offered Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor” to get Jesus to worship him -or threat and enticement as main obstacles to serving God. Thank God that in both cases the three men and Jesus chose to serve God by demonstrating their trust in him in refusing to worship and bow to the statue and the devil, respectively.
Every situation you face is an opportunity to serve God, especially when you are under pressure to conform to the majority around you, or be like your peers, and when you are enticed by what the world has to offer -only those who bow and worship the power behind the world system can have what the world has to offer.
It is impossible for you to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth unless you serve God by (actively) trusting him daily. I pray that the Lord will grant us the grace to serve him.
