DELIVERANCE AND SERVICE
BY M.L.C.
He would grant unto us, that we being delivered
out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and
righteousness before Him, all the days of our life. -Lu. i: 74,75.
One
lesson that we all have to learn is, that we cannot deliver ourselves from the
hand of our enemies. We all have the same experience of trying and struggling to free ourselves from
the power of sin and of Satan, and when we find that we are unable to
accomplish this, we then think that if the Lord would assist us a little we
would certainly be successful, yet we find the result a failure What is to be
done? Is your life- is my life, to be one of failure and defeat? Surely not. We
re to e “more than conquerors.”
Let us for a moment look at how this
deliverance is to be ours. We have a Deliverer to whom is given all power and
He is with us to deliver us. “Be not afraid,… for I am with thee to deliver
thee, saith the Lord.” – (Jer i:8.) To make this deliverance ours we must take
Him as our Deliverer and trust Him. We must believe, not only that He will
deliver, but that He does deliver and that we are delivered out
of the hand of our enemies. “The battle is not yours, but the Lord’s.” So we
find our deliverance comes, not by our own efforts, but by trusting Him who is
the Deliverer. It is through Him that we are more than conquerors, and
this is the victory even our faith.
Then following deliverance is
service. We cannot serve two masters. We are to reckon ourselves deal to sin,
that henceforth we should not serve in sin (Rom. 6: 11,16.), but whatever we do
we are to do it as to the Lord, for we serve the Lord Christ. –(Col. iii:
23,24.)
Our service is to be without fear
and is to be in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
We read of those who stand before the throne, who have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb and serve Him day and night in His
temple, and we picture to ourselves a company that is pure and holy, but think
of their position and occupation as something peculiar to Heaven. But our
service is “before Him” just as much as that of those who stand before the
throne. Their robes have been made white in the blood of the Lamb, but it is
not here and now that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth? And our service is
to be in holiness and righteousness, not only in His temple, but “all the days
of our life.”
All the days includes this
day. Let us serve acceptably today. “Who then is willing to consecrate his
service this day unto the Lord?” “If any man serve Me, let him follow Me, and
where I am there shall also My servant be; if any man serve Me, him will My Father
honor.-(I Chron. xxix: 5; Jno. xii: 26.)
May He grant unto us that we,
being deliver out of the hand of our enemies, may serve Him without fear in
holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
