A Soul To Wait Upon

Beauty and the Beast lyrics unpacked some more:

Life is so unnerving

For a servant who's not serving

He's not whole without a soul to wait upon

We were made to serve. Just as a cheetah was made to run, and a shark to swim, there is something in our wiring as human beings that causes us to give our lives to something.

A 'non-religious' person may say, "That's not true, I serve no God, my life is my own..", but I challenge that. Maybe it's not a God that you're serving, but think about this: As you invest your time and effort into climbing the corporate ladder, are you not serving your career? As you love and teach and discipline your kids, are you not serving them? As you put money aside each month into your pension, are you not serving your future self? With each moment we live, Rand we spend, calorie we burn, we are serving something, someone, some dream of ours.

So now my question is, what do you choose to serve? Is it yourself, your wants and dreams and ego? Or, with your time and resources and talents, are you serving others?

The problem with serving ourselves and even with serving others, is the inevitable disappointment that comes with it. You will let yourself down. It will be thankless. The rewards will too often be fleeting and unfulfilling.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  - Matt 6:19-21

Serving Jesus, the only One who is guaranteed to never disappoint: that is where we find wholeness. And yes, serving Jesus will definitely involve serving others, developing our kids, building our careers, spending our money etc. But the motivation, the why we do what we do is rooted in something so much bigger, something eternal and unfading.

Jesus said that when we do something as simple as giving a cup of water in His name, we will certainly not lose our reward. Giving a cup of water is just meeting a basic human need of another person, but when it's driven from a place of the love and compassion of Jesus, it gives that simple action a whole new meaning and purpose.

So why do you serve? And what is your soul waiting upon?