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Is God More Than A Means To An End? During our recent Gospel Meeting, Sid Latham made the following statement; "God is more than simply a means to an end." It struck me as a very powerful and true statement and one than a lot of people may not realize. Serving God brings about blessings. Some may be physical in nature and others spiritual. Deuteronomy is the second telling of the Law. Chapter 28 lists many of the blessings they would receive if Israel remained faithful to the commandments of God. They would have good crops, their livestock would multiply, and their enemies would be defeated. The later part of the chapter speaks of what would happen if they disobeyed the Law. In disobedience Israel would endure droughts, persecution, defeat, and be carried off into captivity. Later on we read of Israel’s disobedience and God’s punishment. The Northern Ten Tribes were carried off into captivity by Syria. Eventually the Southern Two Tribes were defeated by Babylon. Should Israel have remained faithful to God? Obviously the answer to such a question is yes. But why? Because of their love for Him. "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 5.4-5). There is a difference in serving God out of love and devotion and serving God because you want to be prosperous. They should have desired the spiritual blessings over the physical. We see this in the ministry of Jesus. In John 6 we read of Jesus feeding 5,000 with a few loaves and fish. This was on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. They wanted to take Jesus and make Him their King. Christ perceiving this, withdrew from the crowd and eventually went over the Sea to Capernaum. Not to be discouraged, the people followed their Leader. Why were they following Him? Jesus answers that question in verse 26, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled." There is a difference in serving God for selfish reasons and love. It was not wrong for them to follow Jesus, but they should have been seeking more than the physical blessings. 27 "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." Let us make application of this principle to religion today and specifically to us. The appeal of religion today is physical in nature and not spiritual. The health and wealth ministries of the television evangelist appeals to the carnal side of man. There seems to always be a ready audience for this kind of ministry. Jesus did not die so we can have a bigger bank account, a fancier car, or more luxurious house. He died for our soul. Those seeking Jesus for the loaves and fish are following Him simply because they see this as a means to an end, which is materialism. Some people are seeking God as a means to have a happier life. Do not get me wrong. I believe living according to God’s word will bring about blessings in our lives. We will be better husbands/wives, children, citizens, and workers. As a general rule we will be happier in this life if and when we turn our lives over to God. As Paul said, "20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." (Galatians 2). However, living such a life requires sacrifice when needed. What if you must endure persecution and suffer for the name of Christ? Would you still be faithful? We should be serving God because we love Him and realize Christ died for us (me). Some people serve God as long as it is convenient and easy. They view Sunday morning service as OK as long as it is not too long. Sunday night and Wednesday night services are unnecessary. Questions such as, "Do I have to go?" or "Why should I go?" are commonly asked. Gospel Meetings are just a burden we have to endure. The end result is attendance may be good on Sunday morning, but poor the rest of the time. We still want to go to heaven and be blessed, but we don’t want to be inconvenienced. This is seeing God as a means to an end and not as our God. God is more than a genie we bring out of the bottle when we want to be blessed. He is more than one we pray to when we encounter problems bigger than us. He is to be the center of our lives. The beginning and end of what we do. That is what makes living the Christian life hard. If and when we get to that point of living for Christ; being dedicated to serving Him, of saying I have been crucified with Christ and the life I live is not for me but for Him, we will find it easier to be inconvenienced, to make sacrifices, or be persecuted. Think about it and about why you are serving God. — Dennis Tucker |