Serving God, Now or Never!

John 12: 1-8: The anointing at Bethany

• Offer up your all and your best to God.
• People might not understand and get upset with your seriousness with God.
• Mary used up the oil of spikenard and it costs 1 full year salary. Equals to RM 36,000.00 in this era if you earn RM 3,000 per month.
• All Jewish girls can afford to use once in their lifetime which is their big day- wedding.
• Is Jesus worth all your best and life? How much is Jesus worth in your life?

Psalm 116:12 – “What shall I give to God for all the good things Jesus done for me?”

• Without Christ we don’t have the true happiness and purpose in life.
• Without Christ we could not have the privilege to worship God face to face.
• Without the amazing love of Christ in my life, I will not be who I am today.

1 Cor 1:18-25: Christ the power and wisdom of God

• There are 2 kind s of wisdom. One is wisdom of the world and the other is wisdom of God.
• It is a waste spending time and money in the church in the eyes of the world.
• We don’t live our life out of convenience but commitment. We come to church to not because we are free but to encounter God.

Mark 10:23-31: Left everything for Jesus and Gospel sake

• Serving God requires commitment and sacrifice.
• There is a cost to pay to serve God and it is worthy to pay the cost.
• There is timing for us to give our best to serving God. Offer up our youth.
• Same principle with our offering. Look at Cain and Able offering in Genesis 4:3-5
• Able offered the best of his flocks and Cain was not so particular. But sacrifice will be acceptable to God when it is perfect and costly (Lv 22:20-22, 2 Sam 24:24), God will not satisfy with second best (Mal 1:6-14, Rom 12:1).
• When we give our offering or service to God, we must always have the right attitude. Don’t just simply give just because you want to fulfill religious duty.

Luke 18:18-23/Mark 10:17-22: rich young ruler

• The young rich ruler had everything in life and he is a good man but one thing he does not have, the eternal life.
• In our context, this young man might be a very kind-hearted person, loving everyone beside him and obeys every law of the country and may be very active in church.
• He wanted to follow Jesus wholeheartedly and stores treasures in heaven.
• Here Jesus challenges him to give up all he has and follows him, he wanted but he was unwilling.
• The man is passionate for God’s Kingdom. Jesus would be happy to have him as a follower too, but He just can’t lower down the standard of a true follower.
• So the young man walks away with sadness and we never heard about him any more.
• What if the young man was willing to give up everything to follow Jesus that day? He might become one of the apostles and changing the world for Christ. Maybe even greater and better than Peter or Paul.

Matthew 6:25-34: Seek first the kingdom of God –

• To seek first the kingdom of God means to put God in our priority and give our first commitment to Him as King.

• In all our decisions God has the final say and we will think about how He feels before we make the decision.
• We will make all the decision not based on what we think is good and our comfort but based on what He thinks is good and whether it will bring glory to Him and His Kingdom.
• David Livingstone (pioneer medical missionary)
• He is one of the most popular national heroes in Britain.
• Livingstone completely lost contact with the outside world for six years and was ill for most of the last four years of his life.
• In his funeral at Britain, there was a beggar crying out loud and people asked him why he cries? He had the same calling with Livingstone in University but he was unwilling to give up the opportunity to work in the royal medical center of Britain. He regrets.

John 12: 1-8: Time to break our bottle of spikenard.

• Stop giving excuses and reasons why you cannot commit to God’s Kingdom.
• Don’t think that one day when you get a more stable job and you will have more time for God and His ministry.
• In eternity we will face Jesus face to face, that will be the time we will stand firm before Jesus and say we have run the race and stay faithful to the cause no matter rain or storm.
• All that we want when we are in heaven meeting Jesus is hear Him says “Good and faithful servant”.
• I believe whatever we decide and do today will affect the next generation. If 50 or 100 years ago the missionaries did not pay the price to come to Malaysia to spread the gospel, today many of us would not be saved.

So brothers and sisters, do you have what it takes to hear the phrase “Good and faithful servant?”