Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
Beware the man who tells you that it is your duty to "do something for God". The truth is that we can do nothing for Him. What can man add to God? What can we teach Him or give to Him? If He ever were to become hungry, He would not tell us; He would not look to us to help Him (Ps. 52:12).
Neither can we do anything for Jesus. He has already been exalted by his Father "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and [God] hath put all things under his feet, and [has given] him to be the head of his called out people" (Eph. 1:21-22). Now, what can any of us possibly add to that? What can a man, any man, "do for Jesus"?
The often-heard exhortation, "Do something for God!" was probably invented by a Christian (Xn) minister as a means to pressure people to do something for HIM. It is just another of those cliches that people not led by the sweet Spirit of Jesus take up and use without thinking.
How hard it is (once Jesus has set us free) to watch God's children taken in by such noble-sounding but empty words! How true was Peter's prophecy that Christian ministers would "make merchandise" of God's dear children (2Pet. 2:1-3). And it is by such noble-sounding phrases as "do something for God" that we, too, were once led into the snare of Christianity. How crafty is our adversary, the devil! Satan knows how to use against us our own love for God and our desire to please Him-until we come to the knowledge of the truth about Christianity! The truth will make us free, just as Jesus said it would (Jn. 8:31-32).
The closest that any of us will ever come to "doing something for God" is to be a blessing to His people. I love the verse from Psalm 16:2, "My goodness extendeth not unto thee, O Lord, but to the saints that are in the earth." If you want to make God happy, relieve a burden that is on one of His children, or encourage a brother or a sister who has been hurt or discouraged. If you want to make God happy, be a good example of godliness, believe and love the truth, be courageous for it, so that others may see that good and right Way. Then God will be happy that a light is shining for His children who are lost in this world's darkness. That is as close to "doing something for God" that any of us will ever come.
In his famous parable of Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus warned us that he takes it very personally when his children are either helped or harmed. "Whoever touches you", the Lord told ancient Israel, "touches the apple of my eye." Jesus promised that whoever gave so much as a cup of water to his thirsty servants would receive a sure reward (Mt. 10:42; Mk. 9:41). "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love that you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister" (Heb. 6:10).
Flee from the minister who tells you that it is your duty to "do something for God". God did not send that man to say that. Satan did. But listen to the man, and obey him, who reminds you of Jesus' words: "Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind", for "this is the first and great commandment." And remember also that Jesus added this second greatest commandment, which is very much like the first: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Do this, and you will be saved from sin now and from the wrath of God that is shortly to come upon this blind and wicked world, not because you have "done something for God" but because you have obeyed God and done something good for others here on earth.