Spurgeon: January PM
* 01/09/PM
"Serve the Lord with gladness."
--Psalm 100:2
Delight in divine service is a token of acceptance. Those who
serve God with a sad countenance, because they do what is
unpleasant to them, are not serving Him at all; they bring the
form of homage, but the life is absent. Our God requires no
slaves to grace His throne; He is the Lord of the empire of
love, and would have His servants dressed in the livery of joy.
The angels of God serve Him with songs, not with groans; a
murmur or a sigh would be a mutiny in their ranks. That
obedience which is not voluntary is disobedience, for the Lord
looketh at the heart, and if He seeth that we serve Him from
force, and not because we love Him, He will reject our offering.
Service coupled with cheerfulness is heart-service, and
therefore true. Take away joyful willingness from the Christian,
and you have removed the test of his sincerity . If a man be
driven to battle, he is no patriot; but he who marches into the
fray with flashing eye and beaming face, singing, "It is sweet
for one's country to die," proves himself to be sincere in his
patriotism. Cheerfulness is the support of our strength ; in
the joy of the Lord are we strong. It acts as the remover of
difficulties . It is to our service what oil is to the wheels of
a railway carriage. Without oil the axle soon grows hot, and
accidents occur; and if there be not a holy cheerfulness to oil
our wheels, our spirits will be clogged with weariness. The man
who is cheerful in his service of God, proves that obedience is
his element; he can sing,
"Make me to walk in Thy commands,
'Tis a delightful road."
Reader, let us put this question--do you serve the Lord with
gladness ? Let us show to the people of the world, who think our
religion to be slavery, that it is to us a delight and a joy!
Let our gladness proclaim that we serve a good Master.