Monday Morning Manna: Serve with Gladness

We sang a song yesterday in the worship service that I had completely forgotten. It was a song from my youth, written in 1931 by B.B. McKinney, and based on Psalm 100:2, “Serve the Lord with gladness.” As we sang, I found myself wondering if there was any other way to serve the Lord. Could one serve the Lord with sadness? With anger? With indifference? With fear? I suppose so, but why would one want to do that? The kind of gladness that comes from serving the Lord, is greater than any earthly gladness. Greater than the gladness that comes from watching a child open a present. Greater than the gladness that comes from winning a medal or a championship. Greater than the gladness that comes from performing a perfect recital. It’s greater than fist pump gladness, high five gladness, hug-your-Mama gladness. If we serve the Lord correctly, all other emotions move toward gladness. Henri Nouwen said, “We need to remind each other that the cup of sorrow is also the cup of joy, that precisely what causes us sadness can become the fertile ground for gladness.” Can not the quote be just as meaningful when the word “sadness” is substituted with words like “anger, indifference, fear, etc.? Join me this week serving the Lord with gladness.

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.