"Come Lord Jesus Come"

As I think about those words, "Come Lord Jesus Come", I am reminded that they speak not only of what will happen in the future, but what has already started happening here on earth. Jesus came to earth, but not yet completely. A process of sanctification has already begun in the life of every one of His children. Creation itself awaits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. The Spirit, today, and yesterday, and tomorrow follows through with His work of Christ being proclaimed among every people.
The only way to prove that we indeed desire the New Heavens and New Earth over this one, is to do all we can to live in the manner NOW, that God intends for us to live eternally. We tell others of God's goodness as we live in response to it. For eternity we will worship, but it starts here. The call on our life is to put sin to death. Don't dabble, don't experiment, don't simply wound it, KILL IT! (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5) So if we are doing this, living as sin murderers, we are living as worshippers. Sin separates us from God, so the murdering of it makes God's glory all the more clear, on display. Our struggle here is that Christians still sin. Upon recognition of and belief in Christ, we don't simply do away with the realities of sin. But we now have what, or I should say who, we need to aim to put sin to death in every facet of our lives.
I have been thinking about how this should affect us in the way we serve others here on earth. As sinners who have been redeemed, the ransom has been paid and we belong to God. No longer slaves to sin, we are free. And, like Christ, Galatians 5:19 tells us that we have been freed to serve. Freedom has been granted to us that we might serve God. That is why we have been freed from the bonds of sin.

Are we serving freely?

My fear is that we can serve as freed slaves who still voluntarily wear the chains. These chains can come in a variety of forms and sizes. They can come in the form of the fear of man, lack of trust, anger, anxiety, arrogance, pride, idolatry, and a myriad of other forms. These chains DON'T help us in our service. They bind us up, trip us up, slow us down, and cause others to possibly mistake us for those who are still bound... still slaves to sin....

One thing I am lead to consider is if I am totally depending on Christ as I serve?

Not my own strength, but CHRIST. Picture yourself standing in a long line of believers in heaven, and God is addressing one after another after another after another, saying, "Well done my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master." Consider that you just happen to be standing in line next to the most sinful believer that you know. As God nears you, He says to that "most sinful believer", "Well done my good and faithful servant..." and then says the same to you, and the guy behind you, and so on and so on...
Is there anything keeping you from entering into that joy? Is there any part of you that says, "Don't I deserve a little more praise than this guy? He's not even a Sunday School Teacher? He doesn't even tithe? I've heard him cuss....???

If there is any part of you that feels jipped, then you are relying on your own strength and your own works, not solely on what Christ has accomplished for you. Both of you are there because of the finished work of Christ!
Let us serve humbly, in Christ, never slipping into the spot of a god, thinking we deserve more praise and recognition than another.
"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..."