HIM – NOT THEM

 

Thursday, January 12, 2023

 

HIM – NOT THEM

 

Eph 6:5-8

5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;

6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;

7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:

8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. KJV

 

          As a retired pastor, I often struggle with my level of Christian service. Fifty plus years of being on-call 24/7, 365 conditions one to continue that to the grave. Yes, retirement can present some interesting challenges. One of them is pleasing God and/or pleasing men.

 

          Verse 6 of our Scripture today is very interesting in the original Greek. The word eyeservice is from ophthalmodouleia, meaning “service that needs watching.” Menpleasers, as a single word, is from anthropareskos, meaning “man-courting; fawning.” A great example of this is the work and worship habits of the Pharisees.

 

John 12:42-43

42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: 43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

 

          Make no mistake, the pressure was great and the consequences serious and severe. Grace was not offered, and so the poor Pharisee often defended a position he did not truly hold. Honesty was precious in those days – and in these.

 

          The problem, for me at least, is setting boundaries. It is hard to say, “this I will do because it is unto the Lord” or “this I need not do for the Lord does not require it.”

 

Lord, show me my work and let me do it heartily. AMEN