“Know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.” (1 Chronicles 28:9)

We previously looked at knowing God. Now let’s turn our attention to serving God.

Serve God

On the surface, this word conjures up negative associations of ritualistic servanthood, bondage, and compelled labor. However, that’s not the intended, underlying meaning. The Hebrew word translated as “serve” (abad) does mean to work as a servant, to work until fatigued, to be in bondage, or to compel someone to be a servant. But in the context, such service implies ministry as a means of worship. Any service to God, with the appropriate motives of gratitude and worship, is an exhilarating experience. It doesn’t seem or feel like ritualism, compelled religious duty, or drudgery.

In a heartfelt, joyful expression of thanksgiving and gratitude toward God, the Psalmist expresses it beautifully. “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve [emphasis added] the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing” (Psalm 100:1-2). There is an exuberance in worshipping God, in participating in what He is doing, and in contributing to His eternal kingdom.

Such a mindset is not, “I have to serve and worship God.” Rather, it’s a mindset of, “I can’t help myself! I want to serve and worship God for Who He is, for all He has done, and for what He is doing in my life!” It’s an attitude of gratitude for the One who loves us and gave Himself for us (Ephesians 5:2). When we realize the immensity of His love for us and His sovereign orchestration in our lives, how can we not serve Him with loving, worshipful hearts? How can we not surrender to the journey of spiritual maturity into Christlikeness?

Serve God with a Loyal Heart

Our sincere, grateful service to God is grounded in a loyal heart. Here again, the subtle meaning behind the words is important. The Hebrew word translated as “loyal” (shalem) means complete, whole, finished, perfect, peaceful, and friendly. The implication here is that our service to and for God is passionate and rooted in a complete, fulfilled, satisfied, and friendly heart.

This doesn’t mean we are happy because we have everything we want or need. It means we have a satisfied inner condition that finds its completion, fulfillment, and wholeness in God alone. King David captured it beautifully: “The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need” (Psalm 23:1, NLT). Notice it doesn’t say, “I have all that I want.” The intended concept is one of having no lack—nothing is missing. With God in the core of our being, there is an inner satisfaction, completeness, wholeness that precludes any desire for anything else.

This means we serve and worship God, not with a long list of requirements, but with completed, satisfied devotion because of Who He is. We serve Him, follow Him, and become like Him fully, wholeheartedly, and faithfully from a place of fulfillment and satisfaction.

Serve God with a Willing Mind

Quite often, our hearts may be loyal and committed to faithful service to God. But our minds may become callous, ritualistic, and overly familiar with our ministry or worship. Genuine service to God involves a mind that is overjoyed to participate with God in His work and purpose.

The Hebrew word translated as “willing” (chaphets) means taking pleasure in or pleased with; liking, desiring, and delighting in something. It’s a cheerful and intentional exercise of a person’s free will. For example, consider 2 Corinthians 9:7: “Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity [compulsion]; for God loves a cheerful giver.” The Greek word for “cheerful” means hilarious or merry-hearted. Such giving comes from the overflow of a grateful heart in response to Who God is and what He has done.

In the same way, our service or ministry to God should flow from a cheerful, willing, freewill mindset. It should never stem from religious ritual, obligation, duty, or compulsion. We willingly and joyfully serve Christ, follow Christ, obey Christ, and become more like Christ. We find complete joy and satisfaction in surrendering to the Holy Spirit’s transforming work that makes us more like Jesus.

 Purchase Nate’s book, Called to Christlikeness, not Christianity here.

This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Nate Stevens.

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About the Author

A lifelong student of Scripture, Nate Stevens has also enjoyed a banking career in a variety of leadership roles. He is the author of Matched 4 Life and Deck Time with Jesus as well as a contributing author on several of the Moments Books (Billy Graham Moments, Divine Moments, Spoken Moments, Christmas Moments, Stupid Moments, Cool-inary Moments, etc.). He writes online devotionals for ChristianDevotions.us and SingleMatters.com as well as articles for several other publications. Additionally, he leads Fusion, a Christian singles ministry he co-founded. A popular speaker and teacher at conferences, seminars and Bible study groups, he speaks on a wide variety of topics. He currently lives near Charlotte, North Carolina, with his beautiful wife, Karen, and is a proud dad of two awesome kids, Melissa and Mitchell.

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