What Kind of God Do I Serve? - You Become Like the God You Serve

Sample Chapter from the book: What Kind of God Do I Serve? by Ezra Byer

Week 1: Day 1

You Become Like the One You Serve

“How you picture God will determine how you serve him.”

How you picture God will ultimately determine how you choose to serve him.

This should cause us to ask ourselves some very important questions such as: Is the God I serve worth serving? Is he actually real? Does he care about who I am or who I become? If I died today and came face to face with the one I picture God to be like, would this excite or disappoint me?

Author A.W. Tozer states, “The most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.” In other words, if you don’t get your concept of God right, every action in your life will reflect this faulty understanding.

You will go through your spiritual journey saying you love God, while living contrary to his desires for your life. This will lead to frustration and confusion in your service of him. Each day you may get up with a desire to do God’s will, but your faulty picture of God messes everything up!

Knowing Impacts Serving

For several years, I worked for Pastor Troy Keaton at Eastlake Community Church in Moneta, Virginia. If there is one thing I learned during my time there, it was the value of communication. Understanding what was expected of me made all the difference between failing and succeeding.

To be honest, getting this down was a big learning curve for me. At first, it felt like I would often fail to live up to Pastor Troy’s expectations. Not because they were so high, but because I needed to grow in some areas of maturity. (No, I was not paid to write this!) Because I did not understand him, I would often wrongly interpret his intentions, and I am sure I must have driven him crazy at times!

Here is something I realized though. The more I began to understand Pastor Troy as a person, the more I understood what was expected. Just hearing what he said was one thing, but understanding what he was like made all the difference.

When it comes to serving God, my mental understanding of him makes all the difference in the world. I have found the more I understand what God is like, the easier it has become to do what he says.

Do you want to serve God effectively? Then it is important to take some time, do some hard work, and understand what he is like.

We Are Called to Be Bondservants

For most people, being a servant brings a negative image to their mind. They have been so conditioned to think that serving necessarily means a step down. What about you? What comes to your mind when you think of service? Before you answer, just remember service was at the heart of everything God’s Son, Jesus Christ, did when he came to earth. In fact, Matthew 20:28 says Jesus did not come to be served but to serve.

The Bible talks about service a lot. It is mentioned hundreds of times in the pages of Scripture. From these passages, we see it is impossible to serve two masters (Matt. 6:24), and we are com- manded to serve God alone (Luke 4:8).

One of the most beautiful images of service we see is the idea of a bondservant. The concept of this word can be found a dozen or so times in the New Testament by a writer named the apostle Paul.

You Become Like the One You Serve

Although we seldom use this word in today’s culture, it holds a rich truth for the way God intended for us to serve him.

To be a bondservant is different from our modern day concept of service or slavery. A bondservant was one who willfully sold himself in service to another. It was not a forced relationship but one rooted in choice. A man or woman chose to become a bondser- vant of another because they valued what their master had to offer.

So in our lives, we are invited to be bondservants of God. Far from being drudgery, this invitation is the greatest opportunity and privilege ever offered to mankind!

God Does Not Need You

Trying to define God is like trying to define the smell of green. We can try, but even our best efforts fall far short of the intended goal. That being said, one of the best definitions I have heard comes from Theologian A.H. Strong. He offers a broad definition of God as the “infinite and perfect spirit in whom all things have their source, support, and end.” This is certainly a good starting point. God does not need anyone. He is entirely self-sustaining.

God does not need you and me to serve him. He needs no person and no thing since he is the originator of all. This is hard for me to wrap my mind around. However, the more I try, the more I am humbled to understand that the very God who needs no one offers me an opportunity to serve him.

Serving Is a Pleasure

Picture a person you would love to meet. Maybe it is a famous athlete, movie star, or political figure. For me, I would love to spend a few minutes with the Prime Minister of Canada. Let’s just imagine for a minute that you would as well. Now say one day, out of the blue, you get a phone call from the Prime Minister’s office. The message you receive offers you an opportunity to accompany the Prime Minister on a journey overseas.

On this trip, you are expected to fulfill certain requirements that he assigns you to do. Some days you are helping him set up PowerPoint slides for his United Nations address. Other days, you work to set up his speaking engagements. All the while, he is right by your side, working with you and coaching you through the process.

I cannot speak for you, but if I were in that position, I would think quite a few times before ever voicing a complaint. Serving the Prime Minister of Canada in this way would be a tremendous privilege and honor.

In the same way that this type of service for the Prime Minister would be a privilege, how much more it is an honor to serve the very God who created this universe!

Serving God Changes Everything

Serving God is a huge deal. How you perceive God will dramat- ically affect the way you live and portray him to others!

What we believe to be true about God formulates what we believe to be true of this world. Theologian James Torrance stated, “Our doctrine of God reflects our understanding of humanity, and conversely, our understanding of the human being reflects our view of God.”

On a radio interview I held with him several years ago, Dr. Jeff Myers of Summit Ministries stated, “Where you start spiritually will determine where you end up in every other area of life.” Start with an improper view of God, and you end with a distorted view of life. Start with a proper understanding of God, and then you get a proper understanding of reality.

Everything Starts With Knowing Jesus

When we serve God in the way he intended, life takes on a fresh sense of purpose and meaning. There is new clarity and focus. Daily choices such as what we watch, how we talk, and how we act under- standably matter! We have an objective standard for what is right versus what is wrong.

Gradually, the more we serve him, the more we become like him. The more we become like him, the greater our life will become!

Action Points

1. Describe in a sentence or two what you picture God to be like.

2. Does service bring a negative or positive image to your mind? Explain.

3. How does serving God as described in Day 1 change everything?