Glad service

Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. — Psalm 100:2

As a boy, I never shared my father’s enthusiasm for the soil. For several summers he had a little plot of ground in the country where he planted a garden. It provided physical therapy and relaxation for him, as well as a bountifully laden table for family and friends.

Back then, a hand-pushed plow was used to break up the ground, and the initial plowing, therefore, was often difficult. I remember helping my dad load his cultivator into the trunk one day and going with him to his garden. When we arrived, he prepared to make the first furrow while I took the lunch basket and picked a comfortable seat under the shade of an apple tree.

I was totally unsuspecting as I observed my father attach a rope to both handles of the cultivator and make a harness. Soon an unwilling boy was in front of that plow. Dad pushed and I pulled — and grumbled. Up one row and down another — over and over again. How miserable I was doing my duty!

Sometimes when we’re asked to serve the Lord in a particular way, we reluctantly accept, but we do so only out of a sense of obligation. When that happens, we need to pray for a willing spirit so that we can "serve the Lord with gladness" (Ps. 100:2). — Paul Van Gorder

I am happy in the service of the King,

I am happy, oh, so happy;

Through the sunshine and the shadow I can sing,

In the service of the King. — Ackley

READ: Ephesians 6:5-9

A willing spirit changes the drudgery of duty into a labor of love.

The Bible in one year:

• 2 Samuel 3-5

• Luke 14:25-35