Self-serving or Full Service?

Why do you get out of bed in the morning? What is your goal for that day? You'l tell someone. It will come out of your mouth. You'l act it out, you'll show people by your words and your deeds today what you are living for. Jesus promises it. Read Matthew 15:18-19:

15:18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person. 15:19 For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

Our problems all start in our heart and our mind. In our minds we have decided what we want out of this next moment, out of this day. Do we want something for ourselves? Are we looking for self gratification of some kind, whether its a TV show and a cup of coffee or a few minutes playing a video game, we have to decide what we are going to live the next few minutes in our life for.

We all need to change our hearts and minds about what the next few minutes will be about. Our natural instinct is to get some "me" time, to think about what I'd enjoy doing. We all need to work at changing what's in our heart from self-serving to full service, like at a gas station. I haven't seen one in a long time, but there were gas stations where the attendant would pump the gas for you, check your air and wash your windows when you pulled your car in. You wouldn't even need to get out of the car. It must have been pretty convenient!

That should be us, not in the car, but running around that car getting everything spic and span and fueled up.We should look at the people that show up in our lives as opportunities for service, not obstacles to my personal plan for that moment. We tend to look at a child who needs help with some clothes or an aquaintance who needs to borrow your truck as a nuisance. That's because in our hearts, we've decided upon our happiness as supreme. Nope. We, and I definitely mean I here, need to hop up when that service bell rings and give that next customer the works. When they leave they should be cleaned, fueled and feel like the red carpet just got rolled out for them.

Are you living your life as a sacrifice to others? Are you living your life to bring glory to God? I know I'm not, at least not enough. Me not wanting to live for the right reasons, me having a mind that seeks to make myself happy leads me down a path that may cause me to do terrible deeds. Read Romans 1:18-23, 32:

1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, 1:19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 1:20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse. 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened. 1:22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

1:32 Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.

David blew it big time. He made a decision to live for his own pleasure and one thing led to another. David went down the same spiral Cain went down. First it was little things, then it led to murder. Bad actions and thoughts often come with bad feelings. I read this passage below and am immediately brought back to times in my own life where I had been dragged down by a succession of bad decisions.

Read Psalm 38:1-10:

38:1 O Lord, do not continue to rebuke me in your anger!
Do not continue to punish me in your raging fury!
38:2 For your arrows pierce me,
and your hand presses me down.
38:3 My whole body is sick because of your judgment;
I am deprived of health because of my sin.
38:4 For my sins overwhelm me;
like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear.
38:5 My wounds are infected and starting to smell,
because of my foolish sins.
38:6 I am dazed and completely humiliated;
all day long I walk around mourning.
38:7 For I am overcome with shame
and my whole body is sick.
38:8 I am numb with pain and severely battered;
I groan loudly because of the anxiety I feel.
38:9 O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire;
my groaning is not hidden from you.
38:10 My heart beats quickly;
my strength leaves me;
I can hardly see.

What got David and me to be in such a terrible state? My heart! I had decided in my mind that the most important thing was self gratification, my own comfort. Out of my heart came words and actions that led me down, down, and down.

Unwillingness to to serve others is a thought pattern and an attitude comes out of the heart. A heart that seeks self gratification will lead to deeds that may start off innocent, but the end is destruction. The lazy grumpy gas station attendant may actually have murder in his heart when a car pulls up while he's trying to read a book. He may start thinking terrible thoughts and those may lead to terrible deeds. All of that happens because in his heart he's decided that his pleasure is most important.

Read Luke 9:23-24:

9:23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. 9:24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

So, what will I do today? Am I going to sigh and complain in my heart when someone wants my attention at an inconvenient moment? Or am I going to hop up, unafraid to get a little dirty, and do some full service so that people will see my heart and glorify my Father in heaven? People will see my heart today. It comes out in my words and in my actions. Am I seeking my own glory or God's today?

God, help me today to minute by minute choose to walk on your path that leads upward. I do not want to end up in Psalm 38 again. Please, Lord, open my eyes to the little things I'm doing all day long to please myself and help me to instead pick up my cross and to loose my life.