"Serve The Lord With Gladness"
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 cheer fulness 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 rail way 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.
Don
Fortner