Focus: Eternally Employed!

Text: 1Chron.9:33

"And these are the singers ... they were employed in that work day and night."

It's so sweet to know that God is our employer. It is also thrilling to know that our job is permanent and peculiar. We worship before His throne and serve as members of His ministerial cabinet. We serve Him not once in a while, but forever. Day and night we do His behest and execute His will. We neither tire nor retire because He has supernaturally empowered us to render spiritual services to Him. 

King David employed singers who took turns singing to the Lord day and night. Yes, they were singing round the clock! They worshipped uninterruptedly. 

God has ordained that we should sing to and serve Him faithfully and forever.

We cannot do any less than Satan does. We are told that "the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night" (Rev.12:10). Satan is relentless and never quitting in all he does. He fights to the finish, except that he loses at last. As for us, we are God's ally, not the opposition. We are friends of Christ, not His foes.

Paul was dauntless in his devotion to Christ and dedication to God's purpose. He says, "Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears" (Act.20:31). He labored day and night for three years to warn the people of dangers ahead, and he did so with tears in his eyes. He says again, "For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for LABOURING night and day… Night and day PRAYING EXCEEDINGLY… I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that WITHOUT CEASING I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day" (1Thes.2:9; 3:10; 2Tim.1:3). 

Did you see it? Paul labored, prayed exceedingly, and served God wholeheartedly day and night. He also tells the story of Israel and God's promise to the patriarchs, and says, "Unto which promise our twelve tribes, INSTANTLY SERVING God day and night…" (Act.26:7). The children of Israel served God continually and consistently.

Paul says of believing widows, "Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and CONTINUETH in supplications and prayers night and day" (1Tim.5:5). Those who are widows indeed devote themselves to the ceaseless ministry of prayer and intercession. They supplicate God on behalf of others.

We are told that the four living beings in the book of Revelation "rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come" (Rev.4:8). In chapter 7, we read, "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and SERVE him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them" (Rev.7:15). The psalmist says of the man who does not mingle with the wrong crowd, "But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he MEDITATE day and night" (Ps.1:2). He says concerning nature and each day that passes, "Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge" (Ps.19:2). He says of himself, "O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent" (Ps.22:2). He kept knocking at God's door to get His attention and assistance. Again he says, "Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life… When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches… The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun… In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire… O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee."

From God's own standpoint, the psalmist declares, "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day… To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night… The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night" (Ps.42:8; 63:6; 74:16; 78:14; 88:1; 91:5; 92:2; 121:6). 

God takes care of His own ceaselessly. He never goes on vacation. He does not take His eyes away from His people. He is eternally committed to us. In His presence we are secure forever.

Are you fully aware that you are God's employee, that you are permanently employed by Him to serve forever in His kingdom, and that you are in Christ's payroll from time to eternity? Serving God is the highest privilege and honor you can find anywhere in this universe. He has given you the ability and opportunity to serve Him for life and for eternity. Child of God, get down to work! It is a serious business, doing the will of God and serving in His establishment on a permanent and eternal basis.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter