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If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you likely know that you are called to serve others. Jesus makes this commandment clear when He shares that, from Heaven’s vantage point, the one who is greatest is the one who serves (Mt. 20:26). Christ exemplified the importance and the impact of serving others when, with humility and love, He went to the cross to conquer death on behalf of those who had violated His commands.

Many new Christians, knowing the command to serve, may be eager and faithful to do so, at first. Yet over time, circumstances and doubt may seem to conspire to pull you away from your ministry post. “I am too busy to serve,” we may be tempted to say; or “I am not qualified enough to serve.” We may even think we are being humble when we say things like “I am just not ready yet. When I have grown in my walk with God, then I will serve.”  Even if these descriptors are accurate and you are busy, ill-equipped, or have a lack of knowledge – we should realize what they really are – excuses. God calls every one of His children to serve and while some specific roles have specific qualifications, the only qualification that someone needs to serve God is to be His kid. If that is you, you should be serving.

But in the moments when you are tempted to stop – when you start believing that somehow the excuses are, in your case, justification, here are three things to keep in mind:

• God blesses faithfulness. – Christ told his disciples that to be trusted with much, you had to be trustworthy with little (Luke 16:10). Therefore, there is no “small” or “insignificant” service to God. All ministry, all work done unto Him, is meaningful because it is an indication of how well we will steward what He has given us. Maybe you aren’t prepared to lead a small group (for example) but the answer to that is not to abandon service all together. Faithfully do what you can do. Send out the prayer requests; deliver meals: write cards of encouragement. Your eternal impact will not grow if you are not faithful in the “little” things God calls you to do.

• Faithfulness encourages others. – If the rewards God promises seems like a selfish reason to faithfully serve (and I would contend that it isn’t), it may be helpful to realize that your faithful obedience to do what God has called you to, can encourage others to faithfully serve where God has called them. After all, who isn’t encouraged to persevere in the circumstances they are in, when they think of Paul’s faithful service to God despite the dire situations he faced? Be warned, though, if your faithful service can be encouraging, lack of faithfulness may lead others astray. If they see you abandoning ministry posts or believing your excuses exempt you from obedience, they may think the same is acceptable for them. If you are faithful to what God has called you to, even when the situation is challenging or you feel like calling it quits, others will be encouraged to do so as well.

• Faithfulness fuels your ongoing growth. If you want to find a Christian that is growing, find someone who is serving. If you want to be a growing Christian, you should be a serving one. I know of nothing that will motivate you to know the Word better, to represent Christ more truly, or to understand His love more fully, then knowing that there are people to whom you are the hands and feet of Jesus.  It may not seem like you are growing in your walk with Christ when you teach the four-years old in Sunday School, or when you write a card of encouragement to a shut-in, but you are. Jesus said that if you want to be great in His Kingdom, you need to serve. If you want to know Christ’s love more deeply and walk with Him more closely, serve His people.

If you want to find them, there will always be excuses not to serve. But let us realize that these excuses are nothing more than temptations to disobey God. If you are God’s child, He wants you to be serving. And although you may serve His people in different ways in different seasons, we should never stop serving, until the day He calls us Home.

One of my favorite memories from childhood is waking up in the middle of the night and walking into the living room to find my dad sitting on the couch, praying, with his bible by his side. This was a clear indicator that something was on his mind and although he rarely shared with me what it was, it was comforting to know that if something was going on, I knew where my dad would be – he would be petitioning his Heavenly Father with his concerns, while at the same time seeking wisdom from God’s Holy Word.

The consistency with which I know where to find my dad is mirrored by the biblical account of Daniel. Of course, the situation with Daniel was more extreme than anything my dad ever faced. Daniel’s enemies knew that Daniel regularly and faithfully prayed to God, and they used this consistency to set a trap for him in order to condemn him to death. God graciously saved Daniel and used the severity of the situation and the enormity of the rescue to demonstrate His glory to an unbelieving king. And while the circumstance is much different than regularly finding my dad praying on the couch, the principle is the same – people who observed the life of these men knew where they could be found – whatever circumstance they faced, they would be spending time bringing it to God.

There are a few things that can be observed about both the life of Daniel, and the life of my dad about their faithfulness:

• They had a regular place. – The book of Daniel tells us that he would go to the window to pray. My dad’s spot was on the couch. I don’t think there is anything magical about either of these locations, but I do believe that there is value in having a predetermined spot for devoted time with God. Knowing where we are going to spend quiet time with God may seem like a small hurdle, but for some, it is one – and one is enough to be a barrier. If we know where we are going to spend time in God’s presence, then we are more likely to keep that “appointment.” And the more consistently we keep our time dedicated to God, the more our walk with God will benefit from it.

• They had a regular practice. – My dad never told me exactly what he was doing before I would stumble across his evening petitions, but from what I observed, he would pray, read the Bible, and then pray some more. Daniel was in the practice of giving thanks, and then making his petitions and pleas, and he did so three times a day. The consistency with which Daniel followed his practice was so well-known, that his enemies were sure that they could use it to bring about his demise. Many people have found different systems or structures for their regular devotional time, and there likely isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” approach. In my own life, I have found that in different seasons, different patterns are helpful in ensuring that my time with God is intentional, regular, and deep. While your practice may be different from mine, the point is to have one that you follow, day-in and day-out, and one that is biblically-sound and useful for your growth in Christ (and let me suggest that this means that you should regularly be reading the entirety of the Bible and have a structured method for applying what you read to your life. Picking our favorite verses and only reading them is less likely to deepen our knowledge of Who God is and what He has called us to do.)

• They had a commitment that surpassed circumstances – Daniel partook in his regular prayer time even though he knew the king’s edict forbid it. For my dad, there was never a reason not to pray and study God’s Word. Their commitment to spending time with God was not dependent on the convenience of doing so; nor did the opinions of others dictate whether they would keep this commitment. If your time with God is contingent upon certain factors lining up to make that time possible, you can almost guarantee that those conditions will never occur. Many forces, including your own fleshly desires, will work against you. We need to commit to regularly spending time with God – when we don’t feel like it, and when we do – knowing that the moments where we struggle the most to maintain this discipline are probably the times when it is most needed for our growth and obedience.

Daniel’s regular time with God wasn’t the only demonstration of his faithful service, but it is reasonable to conclude that his thrice-daily devotional and prayer time fueled his faithfulness. In a time where many are considering what they want to achieve and accomplish in a new year, being found faithful should be towards the top of the list. And having a place to spend intentional time with God and having a process for studying and applying Scripture that we commit to regardless of circumstances, will go a long way towards growing faithfulness in our lives.  If we do these things, when this year ends, we will be able to look back and know that we have spent 2019 engaged in endeavors with eternal significance. And regardless of what else happens this year, for that reason, we will be able to call it a good one.