It is that time of year. The dreaded pleas for helpers in Vacation Bible School fill my soul with fear. True confession: I would rather go shopping in a rattlesnake pit than work in Vacation Bible School. Long story, but suffice it to say the last time I worked in VBS I ended up in the emergency room and was happier there. So why did I volunteer? What sort of insanity drove me to do it? Well, I think it was a mixture of several things including Baptist preacher’s daughter conditioning, guilt and confusion over what God wants from me. I thought He wanted me to prove my love for Him in the most sacrificial way I could imagine. That, for me, was VBS.

Jesus had a lot to say about motivations, especially in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. And He was always pointing out motivations behind actions like when he compared the prayer of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14. Both prayed but each with different motives. To God, clearly, motivation matters.

Recently, I was listening to an episode in the Things Above podcast called Abba Experience by James Bryan Smith. He was talking about the singer songwriter Rich Mullins and told a story from Rich. It goes like this. Rich was in Thailand and met a missionary and was talking to her. He said to her, “You know, I just want the Lord to use me”. And she said, “Well, forget it”. And Rich was stunned. And then she went on to say, “God doesn’t need you for anything. God doesn’t want to use you. He wants you to love Him”.

This is key. When I was serving in VBS, I was confused about what God wanted from me. I thought He wanted me to do the most sacrificial thing. But that is not what God asks of me. He asks me to love Him above all else. After all, that command made the number one position in the top ten way back in Exodus. And how do you show someone how much you love them? By spending time with them in conversation. By getting to know what they like and dislike, thinking about them all day long, allowing yourself to fall in love. By prioritizing your time with them over all else.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t serve Him. It means a shift in thinking and in our time. We must prioritize our own time with God before we begin to think about serving. Only then can we serve free from ulterior motivations of guilt, power, authority, approval, recognition or a desire to be needed. Only then, will our motivations be pure, filled only with humility and love. Then the realization will be that when you serve it is a privilege, accepting a blessing from God knowing if you serve for the wrong reasons you are taking a blessing from someone else. A sure sign that you are doing this is burn-out and frustration with other people while you are serving.

Also from the same podcast by James Bryan Smith was this quote from Dallas Willard, “You must arrange your days so that you can experience deep contentment, joy and confidence in your everyday life with God”. This involves slowing down, saying no, creating space and margin in your day. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself. Arrange for time to be with God and cast your cares on Him.