Ministering to The Lord
Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.” They said, “Do as you have said….” And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” Genesis 18:1-5, 10 (NKJV)
According to James 2:23, Abraham was considered by God to be His friend. What an amazing statement! However, we can see evidence of this relationship in the passage above in which Abraham ministers to the Lord and the angels with Him. When people that we care about visit us, we minister to their needs. We make them comfortable and offer them refreshments. Abraham did just that for the Lord in this instance.
This was not the first time that God had appeared to Abraham. For example, just go back one chapter and we see that He had spoken with Abraham in-person before. Abraham and God had a relationship, and Abraham ministered to God when He came to see him. Abraham encouraged them to sit and rest, had their feet washed, and gave them something to eat. In those days, providing a good meal was not as simple as going to the kitchen and pulling something out of the fridge. Abraham’s wife Sarah had to make cakes of grain and a calf was slaughtered. It was no small thing to minister to them. It took time, effort and resources.
That time of fellowship with the Lord led to God promising Abraham that he and Sarah would be parents in less than a year. And, it also led to God allowing Abraham to negotiate with Him for the souls in Sodom. Ministry to the Lord is a part of having a genuine relationship with Him and opens the door to closer fellowship and to receiving the desires of our hearts.
Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 (NKJV)
Today, I believe we shortchange God. He is worthy to be worshiped with everything we have and everything we are. However, we rarely go beyond our brief Sunday morning services to pay Him any mind.
Ministry to the Lord means bowing before Him as Abraham must have bowed low before Him to wash His feet. We must lower ourselves and be humble, giving Him all honor and glory. If we have pride in our hearts and believe that any good thing we have was a result of our own goodness or ability, we are seriously mistaken. Every good and perfect gift comes from Him, and He deserves the credit.
Ministry to the Lord means giving Him bread and meat, which refers to the Word of God. He gave us the Word, but we are to give it back to Him, by reading, studying, believing, and confessing it back to Him. When we believe what He has said and speak it back to Him in faith, He is honored and it pleases Him. Our Father loves it when we believe what He has told us.
Ministry to the Lord is spending time with Him as Abraham did. Abraham did not approach God with a list of things he wanted. He first and foremost sought to minister to Him and spend time with Him. They fellowshipped together. And because of that fellowship, God blessed Abraham with Isaac.
If we would spend more time ministering to the Lord and seeking intimate fellowship with Him, we would see our needs automatically met and our desires given. Children of God, let’s make a quality decision to, as they say, seek His face rather than seek His hand. Minister to Him today.
