I Know Your Deeds…

You can serve the Lord with all your heart while you neglect seeking Him with all your heart. 

I know this is true, because I’ve done it. Of course, the reason many of us begin serving the Lord with all our heart because we initially start out seeking Him with all our heart. We begin serving because we sought, but over time, our focus slowly shifts from seeking to serving. We unconsciously begin to become more passionate about the work—we become busy for God with all our godly service— and the time we spend in solitude at His feet dwindles….but the work still goes on with gusto. 

Our focus on relationship with the Lord can very easily turn astray into a focus on our work for the Lord. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that to 5 out of the 7 churches in Revelation, Jesus says, “I know your deeds..” but then goes on to explain how they have strayed in their relationship with Him. In Jesus’ first letter to the churches, He says, “I know your works, your labor…you have persevered and labored for My name’s sake…but I have this against you:  you have abandoned your first love” (Rev 2:2-4). And in each subsequent letter where Christ lists what He “has against” each church, we can see that the root of the problem in each, was a lack of singular focus upon passionate pursuit of the Lord Himself. 

I wonder to how many of us the Lord would say the same thing today: “I see your deeds…” I see all your work, I see you serving me with all your heart, but I rarely see you willing to wait and listen at my feet. Truly the Lord has called us to a great work— a work of bringing and discipling the gospel among the nations. But we lose the foundational integrity of that work when we lose focus upon a passionate seeking of the One for Whom we are working. 

Our whole-heart focus must remain on Christ Himself, for it is only the fruit of such devotion which will result in truly acceptable service unto the Lord. 

(Matt 22:36-38) “Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” Jesus declared, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.”

(Matt 10:37) Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;

(Col 1:17,18) He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.

(Luke 10:38-42) …a woman named Martha welcomed [Jesus] into her home. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations to be made… “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary, only one; for Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."