Reasonable Service
How do you repay
An irreconcilable debt?
Do you slowly walk away?
Hoping the creditors forget?
What value could we assign?
To eternal bliss?
No tears to cry
No birthdays to miss!
How do you fill
The bottomless pit?
Do you use soothing words,
Your charm and your wit?
How do you bridge
Irreconcilable differences?
The same way you overcome
Insurmountable distances?
How to repay a man
That has just saved your child
From the mouth of the beast
When the dog has run wild?
What would you give
In exchange for your soul?
Would you hand over your life?
And its total control?
What if all of your sin
One day was just blotted?
No record remains
So no payment extracted!
What can a man do
That merits such favor
Nothing at all,
It’s not based on behavior!
It’s the Free Love of God
In its original rendition
That through Jesus Christ
We may all have redemption
But this is unreasonableness
On the part of God!
The Righteous die
In the place of the flawed?
How could I ever
Make this debt whole?
Even if I cashed in the world
And handed over my soul!
Thankfully, that is not what God
Requires of you
But a “Reasonable Service”
In lieu of what is due
This service He requires
Is not one of conscription
For all of His soldiers
Serve out of conviction
The battles you’ll fight
Have already been won
All He wants from you
Is to believe in the Son
Is it too much to ask
For you to abstain
From things, He already knows
Will just bring you pain?
This body He gave us
Is our meeting place
It is God’s Temple
It is not meant for disgrace!
Your duty is to keep it
Pleasing and Holy
And be mindful of sin
Lest it creeps up slowly
For this is True Worship
That is pleasing to the Lord
Irrespective of the fact
He will you give a reward
But to ensure that your pledge
Becomes a reality
You have to put away yourself
And all ties to carnality
Do not be conformed to this world
But through the renewing of your mind
Reject thought patterns
And strongholds of every kind
Then you’ll discern His Good,
Complete and Perfect Will
And every day in the Lord
Will become better still
What is His Will for you?
You may ask yourself
To seek treasures Above
Far more than Earthly wealth
Neither esteem over men
Or from them too
But treat them the way
You’d want them to treat you
I know, God is unfair!
He wants us to have Peace!
Not the kind the world gives
With its ten-minutes Armistice
But the Peace that is Verb
And Noun all in one
Can only come from the Father
Through Jesus the Son
So as you live by Faith
And not by sight
Count yourself lowly
And He’ll be your Might
This “reasonable service”,
That he wants you to do
Is what He knew all along
Was the very best for you
Read: Developing a Faith worth Sharing
Bondservant to Jesus Christ, Married to Michele, Dad to Madelyn, Claudia, and Joseph and educator by trade, apologist by calling and saved by Grace. Antonio loves to read, write, and discuss all-things-apologetics. He has many passions in life including reaching, teaching, and keeping men for Jesus Christ. Waiting on God’s big reveal: Antonio knows He has something beautiful in mind.