Serving God

What does it mean to serve God, to be a disciple of Jesus, to have a heart after the desires of the LORD? Does following Jesus reflect action upon words, a change of mind and heart which is followed by a changed expression of life? Jesus gives us the Parable of Two Sons:

“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him. ¹

God values follow-through, that finishing the course, not just beginning, saying we will but also doing what we committed to doing. Many heard Jesus teach and liked what they heard, were pleased, were part of the crowd, even ate the bread but ‘did not afterward change minds and believe Him.’

Being a true disciple of Jesus is more than a few words or even an act like baptism for it is to be the act of the whole person wholly committing to turning from the old way and turning to the newness of life in Jesus. When one of the Jewish legalists asked Jesus about the most important of the commandments, it was meant to be an unanswerable question. At this point in Jewish law there were 613 commandments (248 positive, 365 negative) in the Torah. The simplicity and yet profoundness of His answer confirmed two keys about life in the ways of God—it entails the entire being (heart, soul, mind, ability) and extends the full relationship we have with the LORD to all others.

“Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, 
“The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 
The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ²

Don’t you wish we were wise enough to distill the essence of 613 laws into that which contains the simplest desires of God? We can live in these two precepts of the LORD if we live in Jesus. And, we don’t have to remember all the details, just live it from the Spirit dwelling in us.