Doing Our Duty, Part Two

“And to them he said, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you” (Matt. 20:4). Yesterday, I posted an article entitled “Doing Our Duty, Part One,” emphasizing that we owe God obedience and submission regardless of what happens in our lives. We should not serve Him primarily for the “rewards” He gives us but because “Jehovah is worthy to be praised” (Psalm 18:3. If you have not yet read that article, please do so before continuing this one. Scroll down.). But, while dutiful obedience is necessary, it isn’t the sum total of our relationship with God, because if we obey Him only out of duty, chances are our religion will be dry, mundane, and often onerous and taxing. While there is a comfort and peace in knowing we have done what we should, there is a greater joy in learning to serve God, not just from obligation, but from love.

Our God is beneficent and we need to trust Him for that, and also learn to love Him for the same reason. In the parable Jesus related in Matthew 20, the first group hired by the vineyard owner bargained with him—“ok, we’ll work for you, but what will you give us in return?” And indeed they labored and got what they agreed to. But the second group of workers, as related in verse 4, were told to go to work and the owner would give them “whatsoever is right.” In other words, they didn’t haggle with him, they simply trusted in the goodness of the master. And their reward was great. God is good to us, and He will give us what is right. And such is a thought upon which we must dwell continually because when we truly come to appreciate the goodness and beneficence of God, we will learn to love Him more deeply. Thus, our service to Him will become more than just duty, it will become a labor of love. And love is the greatest motivating factor in the world. There is nothing we won’t do for someone we truly love. We will not serve that person simply out of duty—though we might, indeed, have obligations to that individual. We will serve from the joy of love, of doing what pleases simply because it does please, of wanting to bring a smile to the lips and a glow to the heart of the one whom we adore. That is much easier, and a greater inspiration, than rote duty. Obligation often requires sacrifice, and truly Christians are to present their bodies as living sacrifices to our Creator (Rom. 12:1). But sacrifices are much easier to be made when performed with a heart filled with love than one which gives simply because it has to.

The greatest commandment remains to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 10:30). Let’s be honest; that’s not easy. We’ve never seen God. Many of our blessings from Him are intangibles. The pull of our fleshly nature is often against our spiritual nature. This world is filled with sorrows that we don’t often understand and God doesn’t immediately provide the answers to. Loving the unseen requires an effort greater than loving that which we have direct experience with. But God doesn’t ask the impossible. With proper study, meditation, and a pure heart, our love for our Savior can indeed grow and become a tremendous, sterling motivating factor in our submission to Him. Indeed, it can—and should—become the primary motive. And by doing so, our service to Him will only increase and be a joy rather than an often grudging duty. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (I John 5:3). Repentance can indeed be grievous; giving up something we love dearly (for example, the rich young ruler and his money) is never an easy thing. And it can only be done through a strong sense of duty—or, more easily, if we love something greater. When we love God above all else—again, not an easy accomplishment—but when we do, our service to Him will be the most important reason for our existence. And our obedience to Him will not be a burdensome matter.

I do not intend, in the least, to mitigate what I wrote in the first article of this series. We owe God obedience simply because of Who He is. It is our obligation to revere, respect, and indeed to fear Him if we aren’t living correctly because “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 12:13 that the whole duty of man is to “fear God and keep His commandments”; note he did not say “love God and keep His commandments.” We must understand that love is no excuse for presumptive behavior on our part. We still owe God obedience, whether we love Him or not. But if we can grow to the point where love becomes a greater motivator than rote duty, then our service to God will not only be easier, but more joyful and fulfilling. And He will still bless us with “whatsoever is right,” for He is, truly, the beneficent Master of the vineyard.