Summer is a great time to reflect on how we’ve been living this past year and how we can grow deeper in our walk with the Lord. Here is a third devotion that looks at our attitude toward following Jesus:

IN WORD – Why, in the middle of a passage about relationships, does Paul tell us to keep up our zeal in serving the Lord? Because serving the Lord zealously is a key to our relationships. If we thought our relationship with God and with others fell in two different categories, we were wrong. The two are wrapped up together: how we serve God has a lot to do with how effectively we relate to others. That’s true at a number of levels: our motives for serving God and others are the same, our love for God is to translate into love for His people, and our means of serving God and others often overlap.
Our feelings for God and our feelings for people must be integrated. That’s important to know, because the hard work of interpersonal relationships often saps our zeal. Conflict can drain us, personality differences can irritate us, and growth in depth and intimacy can require more energy than we think we have. Sometimes in the midst of our dealings with other people we can lose heart or give up. Paul tells us not to. Why? Because it’s not a people issue; it’s a God issue.
IN DEED – Understand that God made you for service and ministry, and when you serve other people, you are serving Him. Don’t let the disappointments of relationships drain you or distract you—those relationships are still His work. That is where God has called you and equipped you to serve. Under His guidance you will need to determine how much to invest in each of your relationships and how to manage the seasons that will inevitably transform them, but you can’t be halfhearted about them. There are examples in Scripture of relationships being appropriately ended or suspended, but there is never an instruction to be apathetic about them.
Approach your relationships with zeal and faithfulness, as though they were issues between you and God rather than issues between you and others. In many ways, they are. “A zealous man feels that like a lamp he is made to burn. Such a one will always find a sphere for his zeal.” —J. C. Ryle (in “God with Us” by Chris Tiegreen)

Many Christians see faith as a “green card” that gets them to heaven. Some are even “CEO Christians” – Christmas and Easter Only, doing just enough to keep their permanent residency status.
But the authentic Christian life is to be a participant, not to merely be a spectator. Christians are not called to be in the bleachers of faith, but on the field. As you are on vacation or have down time this summer, reflect on your relationship with Christ and see if it is one of apathy or one of zeal. Take time to read the epistle to the Philippians this week and ask the Holy Spirit to help you share the apostle Paul’s attitude to press on. You may find life brighter and blessed. Have a blessed week! – from Singapore, Pastor Sam