When it comes to serving God, motives matter.  Even the devil knows this to be true.  Of course, he thinks the worse of us, believing that our motives for serving God are always selfish.  His conversation with God about Job demonstrates this.

Job 1:8-11 (ESV)
⁸  And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” ⁹  Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? ¹⁰  Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹  But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”

The devil accused Job of only being upright because God had blessed him and protected him from harm.  This is in keeping with the character of Satan.  Revelation 12:10 refers to him as “the accuser of our brethren,” and declared that he had been accusing them before God day and night.  There is nothing in the scriptures that suggest Satan has ever stopped being an accuser of brethren.

Satan was proven wrong about Job.  When God allowed him to attack Job by taking away his material blessings, including his children, instead of cursing God to His face, Job said, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return.  The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” 

The question is if the devil made a similar accusation against us, would we prove him wrong?  Do we only serve God because of what we get out of it?  There is little doubt that a part of the reason we serve God is because of what He has done and will do for us.  Heaven is certainly a great motivation for us.  That should not, however, be the only reason we serve God, nor the primary reason.  Our first reason for serving God should be our realization of who He is.

God is our Creator.  “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).  He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.  When Mary wondered how she would bear a son, knowing that she was a virgin, the angel, Gabriel, told her, “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37).  Knowing that God is Supreme, and that no one or nothing is higher than He, should be all the reason we need to serve Him.

When we serve God for the right reason, the circumstances of our lives will not change how we serve Him.  We will not quit just because He does not bless us like we think He should because we are not serving Him because of what He does for us, but because of Who He is.  If Satan ever accuses us before God, challenging our motives for obeying him, let us prove him wrong as Job did.  Instead of quitting when things get rough, let’s bless God’s name.

Here is the good news.  God does bless us now, and He has promised us a home in heaven after a while.  The benefits of serving God are numerous, and they are all given to us by His grace. Certainly, that should give us more motivation for serving Him every day, but godly fear and love for all that He has already done for us should be the primary motivation for our service.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.