Don't Strive to Serve Him -- Let Him Serve You

It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities. "How can I best serve Thee - Thy will (not mine) be done." These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will. (AA, pg 85)

The more that I read sections from the AA book, the more I am astounded at the outstandingly bad and wicked advice which the book dishes out at people.

Take this little charmer:

"How can I best serve Thee - Thy will (not mine) be done." These are thoughts which must go with us constantly.

These thoughts must go through our minds constantly? And what does it mean "to serve Thee"?

This is the most religious tyrannical nonsense I have ever read.

Jesus Christ did not say: "Serve me!" but:

"Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20: 28)

This account comes from the Gospel of Matthew. The Gospel of Mark also records this statement:

"For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Mark 10: 45)

Jesus served us, and serves us still, in the once and for all sacrifice which He made for us at the Cross, where all our sins were taken away, where the Old Covenant rules and regulations were fulfilled once and for all and forever. The blood of Jesus keeps on cleansing us from all sin (1 John 1: 7).

Many people unofficially refer to as "The Servant Jesus" Gospel because He does so many miracles, and He does them quickly. Only the Gospel of Mark do we find a record in which Jesus is enthroned at the right hand of the Father:

"19So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God." (Mark 16: 19)

What can we gather from this wonderful account? If we treat Jesus as our Servant, in that we draw from Him all that we need and seek from Him all that we desire, He is greatly honored. In fact, for us to presume on our own efforts to serve Him is both foolish and insulting:

"10For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

11I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. 12If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof." (Psalm 50: 10-12)

and

"Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?" (Isaiah 66: 1)

What does God want us to do?

"As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe." (Mark 5: 36)

and

"23For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." (Mark 11: 23-23)

and

"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. " (John 6: 29)

Stop striving to serve God. Let Him serve you, for when you receive His grace, believing on His love, then you in turn are empowered to love others:

"We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4: 19, NIV)

and

"31Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Ephesians 4: 31-32)

The greater your understanding of how much God has forgiven you through Christ, the greater the grace you will have to give to others.