“David also said to Solomon his son,
‘Be strong and courageous, and do the work.’”
1 Chronicles 28:20
‘Be strong and courageous, and do the work.’”
1 Chronicles 28:20
By Jon Hirst
There is a sense of duty that drives people to do the many things that fill their lives. We feel duty to our country, duty to our family, duty to our alma mater, and the list goes on. These forces in our lives cause us to invest time, resources and ourselves on many levels. And we do it happily because when we do this, we feel that we are completing a circle that no one can quite explain but everyone knows must be finished in order for life to go on.
The word duty floods my mind with ideas of responsibility, tradition, value, and good character. It also carries with it a feeling of obligation – a heavy feeling that sticks to you like plastic on sweaty skin. This heaviness paints negative strokes on the canvas that is the word duty. It reminds us that sometimes duty is an obligation that is shunned or at least disdained.
So what is the place of duty in the Christian life? The first question to ask is, “Duty to whom?” Many people say that they feel a duty to their church or to their parent’s religious background. But I have heard few talk about duty to their Creator.
It seems rather obvious that the creation should feel duty towards the Creator of the universe and Savior of the world. It would make sense that if humanity were to feel duty towards anything it would be towards their God. So when I realized that this wasn’t the case, I had to ask myself why.
It comes down to the way that God revealed Himself to us. He chose to reveal Himself through grace, and He gave us a choice. He decided not to impose duty upon us but to give us the ability to come to Him or reject Him. And that ability is what makes the difference.
No one I know chooses duty. Duty is thrust upon someone and they either struggle under the load or thrive with the challenge. Duty is either a loathsome obligation or a special privilege. Once God extended to His creation a choice, we realized that the decision was up to us. Humanity then began to view its decision to follow God as something that could be controlled by them and held up as an accomplishment of humanity instead of the duty of a creature.
In the rush of free will we have left duty far behind. We preach choice from our pulpits. We focus our eyes on the important role that each individual plays in the redemptive plan. We view that moment that an individual steps from the shadows of darkness into the aisles of pure light as the pinnacle of what makes our faith so incredible. And truly it is an incredible moment. That moment encompasses everything that is amazing about grace.
Unfortunately, in our humanity we focus on the human choice that exists and forget about the reality of eternal duty. We don’t understand that it is our duty as the creation to serve the Creator. We truly have no choice about the matter. The only reason that there is choice involved is because God has postponed the day when “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.” That example of duty makes my loyalty to a university or to a company feel very insignificant.
Eternal duty makes my head swim. I struggle to imagine an obligation so strong that time cannot erode it. This type of duty desired to command the attention of my grandfather and his grandfather. It will exist when my great grandchildren grow up. And the most amazing thing is that this duty doesn’t change.
When God asked Solomon, through his father David, to fulfill his duty by building the temple, it was the same call that God makes to Christians today. Solomon understood clearly what God wanted Him to accomplish and he knew that eternal duty demanded it. With that understanding, Solomon built one of the most amazing structures in the world and watched as the Creator of the world descended into it and inhabited it.
In our day, the existence of eternal duty is just as real. But the question that remains is, “Are God’s creation aware of their duty and willing to fulfill it?”
I look at individuals like John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, D.L. Moody, and Billy Graham and I can say that some do see their eternal duty and take it up as their commitment. But so many more are happy with other duties that pale in comparison.
What is loyalty to a job, or faithfulness to a cause in the face of eternal duty? Now I am not saying that these things could not be part of our eternal duty to God. God uses people and their specific skills and responsibilities and these people are driven by this sense of eternal duty. But too many times we settle for these inferior duties as ends in themselves instead of a part of the eternal picture.
I imagine with sadness the look on the face of an activist that spent their life fighting for their cause only to realize as they kneel before the throne of God that their cause was just a puddle compared to the ocean of God’s eternal purpose.
So how can this eternal duty be explained? What are it’s guiding points. Jesus laid them out to the young man who came to him searching for a cause. Jesus said “love God then love others (get exact verse).” Everything we do should be judged based how we represent these principles to the Creator and His creation – after all it is our duty.
There is a sense of duty that drives people to do the many things that fill their lives. We feel duty to our country, duty to our family, duty to our alma mater, and the list goes on. These forces in our lives cause us to invest time, resources and ourselves on many levels. And we do it happily because when we do this, we feel that we are completing a circle that no one can quite explain but everyone knows must be finished in order for life to go on.
The word duty floods my mind with ideas of responsibility, tradition, value, and good character. It also carries with it a feeling of obligation – a heavy feeling that sticks to you like plastic on sweaty skin. This heaviness paints negative strokes on the canvas that is the word duty. It reminds us that sometimes duty is an obligation that is shunned or at least disdained.
So what is the place of duty in the Christian life? The first question to ask is, “Duty to whom?” Many people say that they feel a duty to their church or to their parent’s religious background. But I have heard few talk about duty to their Creator.
It seems rather obvious that the creation should feel duty towards the Creator of the universe and Savior of the world. It would make sense that if humanity were to feel duty towards anything it would be towards their God. So when I realized that this wasn’t the case, I had to ask myself why.
It comes down to the way that God revealed Himself to us. He chose to reveal Himself through grace, and He gave us a choice. He decided not to impose duty upon us but to give us the ability to come to Him or reject Him. And that ability is what makes the difference.
No one I know chooses duty. Duty is thrust upon someone and they either struggle under the load or thrive with the challenge. Duty is either a loathsome obligation or a special privilege. Once God extended to His creation a choice, we realized that the decision was up to us. Humanity then began to view its decision to follow God as something that could be controlled by them and held up as an accomplishment of humanity instead of the duty of a creature.
In the rush of free will we have left duty far behind. We preach choice from our pulpits. We focus our eyes on the important role that each individual plays in the redemptive plan. We view that moment that an individual steps from the shadows of darkness into the aisles of pure light as the pinnacle of what makes our faith so incredible. And truly it is an incredible moment. That moment encompasses everything that is amazing about grace.
Unfortunately, in our humanity we focus on the human choice that exists and forget about the reality of eternal duty. We don’t understand that it is our duty as the creation to serve the Creator. We truly have no choice about the matter. The only reason that there is choice involved is because God has postponed the day when “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.” That example of duty makes my loyalty to a university or to a company feel very insignificant.
Eternal duty makes my head swim. I struggle to imagine an obligation so strong that time cannot erode it. This type of duty desired to command the attention of my grandfather and his grandfather. It will exist when my great grandchildren grow up. And the most amazing thing is that this duty doesn’t change.
When God asked Solomon, through his father David, to fulfill his duty by building the temple, it was the same call that God makes to Christians today. Solomon understood clearly what God wanted Him to accomplish and he knew that eternal duty demanded it. With that understanding, Solomon built one of the most amazing structures in the world and watched as the Creator of the world descended into it and inhabited it.
In our day, the existence of eternal duty is just as real. But the question that remains is, “Are God’s creation aware of their duty and willing to fulfill it?”
I look at individuals like John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, D.L. Moody, and Billy Graham and I can say that some do see their eternal duty and take it up as their commitment. But so many more are happy with other duties that pale in comparison.
What is loyalty to a job, or faithfulness to a cause in the face of eternal duty? Now I am not saying that these things could not be part of our eternal duty to God. God uses people and their specific skills and responsibilities and these people are driven by this sense of eternal duty. But too many times we settle for these inferior duties as ends in themselves instead of a part of the eternal picture.
I imagine with sadness the look on the face of an activist that spent their life fighting for their cause only to realize as they kneel before the throne of God that their cause was just a puddle compared to the ocean of God’s eternal purpose.
So how can this eternal duty be explained? What are it’s guiding points. Jesus laid them out to the young man who came to him searching for a cause. Jesus said “love God then love others (get exact verse).” Everything we do should be judged based how we represent these principles to the Creator and His creation – after all it is our duty.
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