God's Servant

For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve. Acts 27:23

Listen to the way the apostle described God. God is the one "whose I am." Paul belonged to God, body and soul, and every moment of his existence reflected that. He was a slave of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:1). Of course, it is true that as creature to Creator every human being on the planet belongs to God. We are not the masters of our fates or the captains of our souls: God is. But when Paul said that he belonged to God, he was expressing his utter dependence upon him and his total trust in him. Paul had given himself to God. Have we?

We must do so before we can truly say the following thing: "and whom I serve." To be a slave of Christ is not only to belong to him but also to serve him. Our lives are not meant to be lived for ourselves. I shudder when I read what Paul said of many of his contemporaries in the ministry: "For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's" (Phil. 2:21). It is the great temptation, but it is a sad way to live. Let us live, not for our private and little and trivial kingdoms, but let us live for the King of kings and Lord of lords. There is no better master and there is no better service. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. Let us therefore come to him, weary and heavy laden as we are, and take his yoke upon us and serve him (Mt. 11:28-30).