Chosen to Hear and Serve

The Lord’s people are not formed by empty words, but by thankful obedience. In Moses, Israel brings firstfruits and confesses that all they have came from God’s hand. In the psalm, all the earth is summoned to enter His courts with thanksgiving, because He made us and we are His. In Jeremiah, the king asks for a word from the Lord, yet neither he nor his servants obey it. In Acts, Paul does not drift from place to place as a man ruled by convenience; he labors with his hands, reasons in the synagogue, strengthens the brethren, and keeps his course before God.

So the difference is plain: one may speak piously, ask for prayer, and still refuse correction. As Irenaeus says, “This is a people that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord, nor receiveth correction;” Thanksgiving without obedience becomes flattery; hearing without repentance ripens into judgment.

Yet God does not call us only to dread. He binds a people to Himself. Clement says, “Beautifully, therefore, has this oracle been spoken with respect to penitents: You have chosen God this day to be your God; and God has chosen you this day to be His people. Deuteronomy 26:17-18” Therefore let your worship be proved by deeds: set aside the first and best for God and for the needy, confess your sins without excuse, receive correction quickly, and persist in the work given to you. The man who belongs to God must not be double-minded—singing in the courts, resisting in the street, and delaying in the hour of duty. Let us be a people who hear, give thanks, and obey.