I was praying and asking the Lord this very question the other day. And I was led to this scripture, I Corinthians 7:23: "Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men." And in a flash I knew where my joy had gone. In my misdirected zeal, I'd been serving men and not Jesus! Don't get me wrong, certainly people are the beneficiaries of our service to Jesus--The One who bought us with a price. BUT (big 'but') our service is not directed to people, it is directed to Jesus. Such a subtle nuance (at least for me) that I had missed it, or let it slip somewhere along the line. However, the moment we shift the focus of our service back to our Heavenly Father, it is in that moment we get our joy back!
Why? Because Jesus . . . loves us (John 3:16) . . . accepts us (Ephesians 1:6) . . . does not condemn us (Romans 8:1) . . . forgives us (I John 1:9) . . . is our peace (Ephesians 2:14). In short, He is our all-in-all. So when our service is directed to Jesus, we have the joy of knowing He is pleased. People, on the other hand, are never pleased, and besides, you can never please them all! They do not have the power (nor often the desire) to validate or affirm us. Our service belongs to Jesus, and He will bless whom He will with it. I guess that's why the Psalmist so wisely declared, "Serve the Lord with gladness!" (Psalm 100:2a) :jb
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