Articles
A Life Changing Message
On January 20th , 1961 President John F. Kennedy proclaimed these words toward the end of his inauguration speech, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” If you are a fan of the superhero comic author Stan Lee, you might have heard responsibility referred to in another way, “With great power comes great responsibility.” These sentiments of responsibility can be inspiring coming from the president or the superheroes . However, these sentiments can also become daunting and seemingly out of reach because of this very same reason. Anyone can become convince that they are a small spec living in an infinite universe that won’t remember their names. When these downtrodden thoughts persist, we tell ourselves, “What power, or responsibilities do I have? I am not spiderman or a president, I am just me.”
If you have ever told yourself this, unknowingly you’re saying the right thing. You are just you, a uniquely created child of God, who lovingly knitted you together (Psalm 139:13-16). Every person on Earth was created by God for the purpose of bringing glory to His name by using their distinct talents in obedience. Titus 2 explains the transforming power that having a relationship with God should bring to our lives. Titus 2:7-8 (ESV) says, “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.” When baptized, God’s children take on the responsibility of being a life-long obedient servants of God. His servants should put all the faith they have in God in every good work they accomplish because God can only be glorified if His servants are faithfully adorning His doctrine (Titus 2:9-10).
God is worthy of mankind’s faithful worship because it was by His grace that we have a path to eternal salvation from sin. God’s mercy on mankind is never ending because He gives every individual the freedom to choose whether they will walk His path or the world’s course. When someone accepts Christ as their Lord and savior in baptism, they must continually walk by His example with their whole heart to stay on the path. In Amos 5:21-24, the Israelite’s worshipped God in truth by doing everything that was commanded of them. Yet, simply following truth isn’t enough because God wants His chosen people to worship in spirit and in truth. God’s path requires more than just scooting by with the minimum asked of us, because in doing the minimum your heart will give the minimum.
Every Child of God should reflect on the worth of their worship by asking themselves, “Is my worship merely for God, or is it to God?” Every good work we accomplish on any day of the week can glorify God and be counted as worship, but only if our heart has the right attitude. God has given every single one of His children the responsibility of saving souls by teaching His truth. Rather than asking what God can do for us, we should be asking ourselves what we can do for God. That way we will seizing the opportunity to spread God’s word in everything we do and recognizing the power that our responsibility has in this world.
