SERVE GOD WITH THE RIGHT MOTIVE
By Bishop Mike Okonkwo
Wednesday 15th January 2025
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy might.” (Deuteronomy 6:5 KJV)
People serve God for a variety of reasons. Some serve God out of convenience. Others serve Him because of what they want or what they can get from Him. Except your service to God is founded on love, it will not last. Because when the foundation comes to an end, the service too will end. Therefore, if you don’t serve God for the right reasons, you will surely miss it. Do you know why? The devil will go and wait for you at the point of your reason and mess you up. If you are serving God because of the things you have, he will touch your finances, and of course, your service to God will come crashing down. If you serve God because it is convenient, the devil will rearrange things and make it inconvenient and again he will get you.
But if you serve God because you love Him and because He first loved you, there is absolutely nothing the devil can do. Solomon said many waters cannot quench love. So, no matter what the devil throws at you, he is bound to fail. That was why he failed woefully in the case of Job. Everything he did, Job looked at it, shook his head and he said, I know that my Redeemer lives. Someday, He will bring Me out.
The heart in our scripture means the innermost part of your being. The soul represents your emotion, and thy might, refers to your strength. You see that the right motivation for service to God must be out of love. Every other thing will give way someday but not love. Love will last forever. It was love that motivated Jesus to die on the cross of Calvary for you. Love made Jesus all the way, paying the supreme price to save you and I. God loves us despite our state. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). Therefore, you can only serve Him right when you are motivated by love.
Further Reading:John 6:22-27; Romans 5:6-10
Daily Bible Reading: Morning – Genesis 36-38, Evening – Matthew 10:21-42