Serving God

ONE day, frustrated with my inability to set aside time for consecrated study of the Bible and of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy,1 I said in a moment of exasperation, ``God, I just don't have time to serve You.'' Sighing, I thought of all the things that were occupying my time: work, taking care of a house, community activity, care of my horse--the list went on and on. Then the Bible words ``Choose you this day whom ye will serve'' 2 came to thought, and I realized that I didn't serve God just at those times when I could sit quietly and pray, but that I could serve God every minute of every day. It was my choice, as the Bible indicated. Either I could spend my day ignoring Him altogether, or I could spend my day glorifying Him, thereby serving Him. Let's take a typical day. If we get up in the morning, resenting the intrusion on our nice dreams, or dreading the day ahead, or grumpy from too much or not enough sleep, we are not serving God. If we eat our breakfast, watching carefully all those calories or counting to be sure we have all the required vitamins, we're not serving God, Spirit, the genuine sustainer of our being. If we commute to work angry at other drivers, disobeying traffic laws, we are not serving Him. If we spend our workday counting the hours until we can leave, resenting our supervisors, criticizing or gossiping with our co-workers, letting our thoughts wander when we are supposed to be working, we are not serving God. If we rush home to spend the entire evening buried in the paper or in front of the television, doing nothing to challenge the constant stream of immorality, violence, hate, disease, and mindlessness, we are not serving God. If we then fall exhausted into bed, so grateful to fall into a stupor, we are not serving Him. Now, let's take the same day but live it a wholly different way. If we get up in the morning glorifying God and knowing that this is His day, that He has made it and has made it very good, we are serving God. If we have breakfast in communion with Him, conscious that He will supply wisdom, energy, and love for our day, we are serving Him. If we commute to work expressing divine Principle by our obedience to every traffic law, and expressing Love by our graciousness and meekness, we are serving God, who is Love and the very Principle of the universe. If at work we expect and accept only good into our day, rejecting all that is not good as unworthy, and unreal in God's sight, we are serving Him. This doesn't mean we ignore evil but that we face it and deny its supposed validity on the basis of God's allness. Mrs. Eddy says, ``Watch, and pray daily that evil suggestions, in whatever guise, take no root in your thought nor bear fruit.'' 3 If we let this counsel govern us throughout our evening--and, indeed, throughout the entire day--we are serving God. If we go to sleep, resting in the consciousness of our unity with God, we are serving Him. Choosing this way to live each day is far more than some kind of ritual. It's the very nature of our true being, as God's offspring, to express the love, wisdom, and grace of the divine nature. God is the sole source of our life. Serving Him, letting Him guide every thought and action, means that we acknowledge and cherish that relationship; that we recognize it to be the only genuine source of happiness and well-being. And, in turn, discerning our relationship to Him, we are impelled to serve Him because we love Him as our God, the all-good, all-loving God from whom we can never be separated, not even for an instant. A correct response to that Bible verse ``Choose you this day whom ye will serve'' can really make a difference in your day--and in your life. 1 The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. 2 Joshua 24:15. 3 The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 128.