Luke 10
…rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
Luke 10:20
Serving the Lord and His Kingdom purposes is a profound privilege given to those who belong to Jesus. We are caught up in a cosmic and international reality of building God’s Kingdom. This Kingdom is God’s priority into which He is pouring His attention and power, building up the eternal Kingdom over which He will rule forever and dwell with His people. There is no greater privilege than to serve to this end.
It is not only a privilege but a matter of pride. We take pride in what we do for the Lord, from the smallest act of kindness to the greatest act of faith; from the time we give to serve tea to the time we give to teach; from folding church bulletins to feeding the poor and from the mundane to the exciting. Taking pride in what we do for the Lord is not a bad thing, but we must not let it become the ultimate thing. Jesus’ disciples rejoiced in the fact that demons submitted to them, but Jesus corrected their reason for rejoicing. He pointed them to the most important thing, “Rejoice that your names are written in Heaven.” That is, their identity and the place they belong is with God; and because their names have been written by God, this is a permanent reality, for nothing that God writes will ever pass away.
It is easy for us to put our confidence, justification, and joy in the things we do for God. But this is misplaced! Our joy and confidence, our pride and privilege, is that our names are written in Heaven, on nameplates bought by the precious blood of Jesus, securing an eternal home that waits for us.