I didn’t own a bible until I was 17 years old, at least not to my knowledge. That’s when a lady named Sue, who happened to be my boss at the local gym, decided to give me one as a graduation gift. Sue gave me much more than a Bible. Let me explain: I worked the 5am-9am shift prior to attending my last semester of high school. Many mornings Sue would call my phone around 5:05am and whisper quietly, as if not to disturb my beauty sleep, “Josh, are you planning on coming in to work this morning?” Not only did she demonstrate extreme grace in this scenario, but when I arrived she would have a bowl of oatmeal and a bible open on the table ready to invest time and energy into feeding my body and soul. Needless to say, she served a weakhearted 17 year old young man and for some reason thought she needed to pay me for it. That is a clear a picture of the servanthood of Jesus.
Many times we think worship is simply standing at a church and lifting our hands towards God, and that is, in fact, a powerful aspect of our worship and serving the Lord. However, the worship that was offered to God in that gym from Sue’s attitude as a servant towards me seems to have a special life-giving fragrance to the Lord.
Sue wrote a D.L. Moody quote in the front cover of the bible she gave me that I’ll never forget: “A little faith in Jesus Christ will bring your soul to heaven, but much faith in Jesus Christ will bring heaven to your soul.” I’ve discovered that although mustard-seed faith is sufficient to learn how to love and serve God, it takes “much faith” to learn how to love and serve our neighbors. Living a consistent life that serves others, both inside and outside the church walls, is the challenge of life with Christ. Serving and giving are twins. Both came from a place of generosity and an overflow of what’s been sacrificed for us.
Up to the point that Sue entered my life, I had been simply been spending (versus investing) my life. I then chose to be baptized in Jesus Christ. I chose to invest my life into His Kingdom. This little country kid from Arkansas has seen a few things since that day. When you start investing your life into the Kingdom, Heaven comes to your soul. Joy fills your life like never before.
Two big questions servant-hearted disciples ask themselves:
What has been entrusted to me?
What am I going to do with what’s been entrusted to me?
There are only three responses:
Waste it.
Spend it.
Invest it.
Which will you do? According to Rick Warren, “Life is a trust, a test, and a temporary assignment.”
Maybe it’s time to move from “little faith” to “much faith.” Let me assure you that this doesn’t imply perfection, it simply implies changing your focal point from yourself to Jesus. When our eyes are fixed upon Him, we are empowered to love as He loves, serve as He serves, and gives as He gives. I don’t want to waste my life. I want to invest it. Every day, each of us have 86,400 seconds that we lose at midnight if we don’t invest them. In light of the cost, I urge you to invest every second into serving those around you with all your might. You’ll never regret a moment you served another.
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