Is Service Always Service?

I was wondering what to write on my blog this time because I felt like I had written about almost all there was to write about on the line of Christian service. I thought about highlighting the difference between service in the community and service out on the mission field but I feel like that has been stressed, and I considered just looking up a picture on Google that reflected Christian service but that did not seem right either. Then I saw everyone else's blogs and how they were all about our fifteen hours of service that we have to finish for this semester, and I thought about how my service hours are covered for because I work for the school and travel on Voices of Praise, which counts for service hours. However, this got me thinking about the stress and amount of work it takes to travel all the time and 'do good service' full time, and I began to notice how when you are working for God's kingdom and being involved in His work all the time, you sometimes might lose track of how much of God you're putting in as your'e giving out.

You see, what I mean is that sometimes when you are so consumed with doing God's work all the time, especially service in the church, you can become over-booked with spilling out Christ's love to everyone that you never have time to fill back up. There must be a moment in your life when you are able to stop and replenish yourself with the Word of God or else you will fall short and grow weary.

It sort of reminds me of a Brita water filter. If no one knows what that is, it is a pitcher with a filter connected to the top; what you do is you pour regular, unfiltered tap water into the top half of the pitcher and the water trickles down into the bottom where it then sits clean, fresh, and ready to use. This Brita water container reminds me a lot of how our lives in full time Christian service can be. We strive to pour out good clean living water from Christ onto the people we are trying to witness to and reach, and the only way we can do that is by having Christ filter our lives through Him and the Holy Spirit that enables us. However, the more we pour out, the less we will have to give, and if we do not continue to keep filling up the top, or our hearts, with God's Word then eventually we will run out of fresh water to give. Then all we will be giving is tired and worthless nothingness. I don't know about you but the last time I checked, it is really difficult to fill up on nothing. Therefore, as we are living our lives and serving for God's kingdom, let us remember to still take time out of our busy lives to renew our minds and bodies and replenish the Word that should be rooted deeply in our hearts, so that we may not grow weary of doing good.

-Alicia Hoffman