SERVICE: THE PATHWAY TO GREATNESS

TEXT: Exodus 23:25-27

We are in a time when everybody wants to be great but the question left to be answered is: ‘how many people can pay the price for greatness?’ Greatness is attainable by all but not affordable by all because of the price tag attached to it. By greatness I refer to the greatness obtainable in God; a great life with unwavering eternal prospects.

Today, we briefly consider the most assured path to a life of true greatness in God: a life of service. There are many people with great dreams and wonderful visions, but there are few people who have found the way of service, and so there are few people who end up being truly great.

One truth we must realise in the pursuit of true greatness is that you do not jump into greatness, you grow into greatness. And the way to grow into greatness is to be planted in the soil of service. Until you know how to serve, you are still far from the top. And undoubtedly, one missing link in the quest for destiny today is the heart of service which is the heart of humility.

What are the fundamentals of acceptable service?

1)      Service to God: This involves being available and committed to the things of God.

2)      Service to man: This is an extension of service to God because you serve God by serving others

3)      Service by the will of God: Don’t spend your time in a place where God has not called you to be

4)      True Greatness lies in service unnoticed and working unseen. It does not rest in boosting your reputation but serving the kingdom and helping humanity live right and end well.

What are the benefits of service?

1)      The life that counts in destiny and eternity is the life that serves

 “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep” (Acts 13:36a).

2)      Service is doorway to God’s blessings and pure prosperity

“If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures” (Job 36:11).

3)      Service is immunity to sicknesses and diseases

“And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee” (Exodus 23:25).

4)      Service eliminates barrenness and generates fruitfulness

“There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land” (Exodus 23:26a)

5)      Service is spiritual recipe for long life

“There shall nothing cast their young…the number of thy days I will fulfil” (Exodus 23:26) 

The list is endless. The root of happiness grows deepest in the soil of service. In 2014, the way to go is the way of true service. Don’t just wait to be served, be available to serve. And as you serve, your greatness in God is incontestable, not even by the enemy.