Joy in Serving Jesus

Alumni Connect (Anonymous)

 

The chorus of the old hymn by Oswald J. Smith, reads, “There is joy, joy, joy in serving Jesus, Joy that throbs within my heart; Every moment, every hour, As I draw upon His power. There is joy, joy, joy that never will depart.” I have found this to be true. There is profound joy in living for Jesus – being grounded in him, finding our purpose, and being whomever he wants us to be in our interrelationships with family, church, and community.

 

BEGINNING THE JOURNEY

I am grateful to the Lord for saving me when I was six years old. Our family was always taken to church. Something said at Sunday School prompted me to ask my mother how to become a Christian. After speaking with her, I went into the living room, knelt at the couch, and asked Jesus to take over my life. It wasn’t until I was baptized at age nine, that I really felt that I should be doing something to serve Jesus. The feeling was strong. I started a Bible club at school, which was possible at that time. My uncle had sold Sunday School curriculum and he gave his leftover boxes to me. I just did what we did at Sunday School with my peers who gathered each week.

 

TIME AT NORTHWEST

At that time, I learned that there are regrets as well as joys in serving Jesus. Were there needy persons that I didn’t pay enough attention to? It wasn’t until I served as a camp counsellor that I learned how to lead my contemporaries to Christ. As I gained leadership and Sunday School teaching experience, I knew I wanted to go to Bible School. God was my best friend – he was enough – but I needed to learn more about my faith and how to be effective in service.

 

I thrived in the critical environment of Northwest. I hadn’t had to write a research paper in high school. My first paper at Northwest was covered in red ink. I didn’t identify a thesis and I wandered. But the red ink showed me how to do a research paper. Also, the professors gave us varying points of view on theological issues. We had students in our classes from diverse denominations and many countries. Not everyone agreed, and they argued for their points of view. We were left with an awareness of classical theological disagreements and had to make up our minds as to what our own positions were.

 

When I went on to graduate studies at university, I never felt intimidated. The intellectual atmosphere of Northwest had prepared me.

 

NOW IN WORKING RETIREMENT

After having served the church in many ways, I am now at the stage of retirement. It is a working retirement. Because I believe that God commanded churches to evangelize the world, I serve Valley Church, a new congregation in Duncan, BC. Currently I am responsible for an academic journal that Northwest sponsors (https://nimer.ca). The purpose is to provide ongoing education for seminary professors and those in leadership in the church. Additionally, as an outgrowth of graduate studies in history, I am creating an archive of historical documents for Camp Qwanoes.

 

Is a working retirement onerous? Not at all. It is pure joy. I can manage my time. I get to read my newspaper app every day and do God’s work. A life of purpose clearly is a life of joy. Does it depend on good health? Sufferings and ill health plagued the disciples of Jesus but, in God’s power, they lived the gospel in the known world in their time.

 

DRAWING ON HIS POWER

Before he ascended to heaven, Jesus gave his disciples a charge, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). I Peter 4:10 admonishes us to “use whatever gift we have received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

 

In God’s power, we must be discerning, but we need not be afraid. He is with us. We can live with purpose, his purpose, with his power, joyfully demonstrating his love and extending his kingdom in the world, with no fear for the future because his grace is ever present in our own lives.

 

The author of this article has asked to remain anonymous.