Why Humanity Should Serve God
I have no reason to doubt that her question was entirely sincere—however misguided it was.
“Suppose you could prove to me that there is a God. So what! Would that necessarily mean that I would be obligated to serve him?,” the young lady asked. “Your God must be on a super ‘ego trip’ if he expects everyone in the universe to worship him.”
What response should be made to this flippant comment from an intelligent but confused college student?
First, the issue of whether humans should yield their lives to the Creator has nothing to do with the divine ego. God, by definition, is infinite in all of his attributes. He cannot be more powerful than he is. He cannot be wiser than he is. The Lord cannot be any more glorious than he is. Consequently, his ego could never be enhanced by human servitude.
This is implied logically in the language of Christ’s prayer shortly before his crucifixion. Jesus petitioned that he might be glorified with the glory that he shared with the Father “before the world was” (John 17:5).
If it were the case that God’s glory had been inflated by virtue of human devotion across the centuries, the Lord’s prayer surely would have reflected a desire for the current glory of the Father, rather than that possessed before the world was created.
God’s requirement that we serve him, therefore, obviously is not for his benefit; rather, it is for our’s. Because God is love (1 John 4:, he wants the best for us. Our true contentment will be found only in living for him, and that is why he bids us thus to do.
But let us expand this thought with supplemental reasons as to why we, as rational human beings, should be obedient to the Creator of our very being.
The Nature of God
A primary reason for bowing before Jehovah has to do with the nature or essence of this Being. God is worthy of human service simply because of who he is! Exactly what does this suggest?
There are two sources of information regarding the Supreme Being. First, there is the abstract revelation of nature, which argues for the wisdom and power of Deity (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:20). Jehovah’s power is seen in the vastness of the universe; his wisdom is reflected in its intricate design.
The evidence is so clear that those who survey these data, and yet fail to conclude that “he is,” are “without excuse” (Romans 1:20; Hebrews 11:6).
In addition to the abstract revelation of divinity in the book of nature, there is the concrete revelation of Holy Scripture, which affirms the moral attributes of the Lord. These two “volumes” of testimony complement one another wonderfully. The Bible teaches that God is the eternal Spirit who is the Architect and Creator of the universe.
But when did Jehovah, himself, originate? He didn’t. God has existed always; he is the eternal “I Am” (Exodus 6:3; cf. Genesis 21:33; Psalm 90:2). Logic demands this.
A venerable argument—that remains unanswered to this day—is this: If anything is existing, then something must always have existed. But things are existing; therefore, something always has existed.
That eternal “something” must be either matter or mind. But it is not matter, for science demonstrates that matter is not eternal. Thus, the eternal something is mind. The Scriptures identify this Mind as God.
As to his essence, God is spirit and not flesh (John 4:24; Luke 24:39; Matthew 16:17). He is the Almighty (Genesis 17:1; Revelation 1:, whose purposes cannot be restrained (Job 42:2).
God is infinitely wise (Romans 11:33-36), and his loving, benevolent disposition is breathtaking (1 John 4:8; Ephesians 2:4; James 1:17). The gift of his Son to accommodate the redemption of rebellious humanity provides ample motive for surrendering one’s life to him.
One of the profound documents of the Old Testament is the book of Job. An interesting aspect of that narrative has to do with the worthiness of God as an object of human adoration. In a mysterious convocation at which Satan was present, the Lord introduced Job, the patriarch of Uz, as a trophy of human character—a spiritually mature, upright man who was unique among his contemporaries.
Satan agreed, but suggested that Job’s righteous demeanor was the result of bribery! In other words, God had blessed Job so abundantly that the sage of Uz would have been foolish not to serve him. In a word, Job knew who buttered his bread!
The subtle and diabolical implication in this charge was this:
You, God, are not worthy of human devotion on the basis of your character; rather, men serve you only because you make it to their advantage to do so. Let us use Job as a test case. Take away his goodies and he will abandon you.
And so, for our benefit (not for his own), the Lord accepted the challenge. Thus, Job was deprived of his wealth, his family, his health, his friends, and his prestige. He lost everything. And yet, the devout dignitary never forsook his faith in God. Though he lashed out in anguish at times—because he did not understand what was happening to him—he nonetheless could proclaim triumphantly: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him” (Job 13:15).
The noble patriarch thus demonstrated this proposition: God is worthy of human service on the basis of his own nature—apart from the generous blessings he bestows. As the psalmist expressed it: “I will call upon Jehovah, who is worthy to be praised” (Psalm 18:3).
We ought to praise God simply on account of who he is!

Yes

summary.

God’s commandments are there for our protection, not to confine us. We ignore them to our own peril.

Funny

WE SERVE GOD FOR WHO HE IS NOT BECAUSE OF THE BLESSINGS HE BESTOW ON US