Gratitude is the only fountain of acceptable service; without it the streams are far too defiled to flow in the paradise of God — Charles Spurgeon

I know I’ve been on a Spurgeon kick lately, but I’ve been captured by a couple of his sermons that I’ve read lately and just simply want to share the impact of them.

Have you ever thought about the fact that gratitude is the only acceptable fountain of service? What is driving your service?

• Is it the need to be recognized?
• Is it the longing to be accepted?
• Is it the desire to be famous?
• Is it the hope that God will accept you if you work harder?
• Is it the guilt of not having served for large parts of your life?

What is it? What’s really driving your life right now in your pursuit of God? As Keller puts it: Are you obeying in the hopes that you’ll be accepted? Or do you realize that you’re accepted and flowing out of that acceptance is your obedience?

There’s a huge difference. The first makes you a self-righteous, judgmental, hyper-critical, legalistic Christian who sees everyone else as somehow inferior to you and thus undeserving of your love and sacrifice. I believe this is what Spurgeon saw when he talked about a defiled stream. There’s nothing appealing about water like that. It’s tainted. It’s bitter. It’s repulsive perhaps. No one is attracted to that.

However, the latter makes you a grateful, humble, contrite, joyful, awe-struck Christian who can’t believe that Jesus would bestow such a gift to you, who sees everyone else as their moral superiors, who understands the depths of their own sinfulness, and sees others as completely worthy of our love and sacrifice because we were so utterly unworthy of it from Jesus and yet He loved and sacrificed for us.

So when you open your eyes and put your hand to the plow - have you ever thought about why you’re standing in the field in the first place?