I dream of Genie

Back in the day when I was growing up, a favorite sitcom was the hit show, “I dream of Jeanie”. I guess ever since the tales of Aladdin and the Arabian Nights the idea of a genie that will grant you three wishes has been a popular fantasy for many. Sadly, some of that mentality has crept into our theology as well. We summon our god genie with a ritual or a prayer formula and somehow think that he is obligated to grant us our three wishes; health, wealth and happiness.
The church and many of it’s false teachers have taught us that God’s primary purpose is to serve us. He is supposed to make our lives more pleasant, to provide us with all the things we need for a successful life. His love for us is so great, that it’s easy to take advantage, like getting your mother to do your laundry and clean your room when you were a kid.
The truth is exactly the opposite. The fact of the matter is that we are to serve God. God is the king and we are his servants, called into service to serve His will. We were redeemed out of slavery to a cruel and brutal master, the devil, who was using us and would eventually destroy not only our life here, but eternally. Christ was compassionate towards our fate and offered himself as a payment for us. That purchase price by His blood transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God. We come to God broken, poor and miserable and are given life, freedom and joy. Our response to that freedom should be to give ourselves back as bond servants to God. We should say, “I want to remain a slave forever. I will serve you with my life, for the rest of my days, for eternity”. God says,” Good, if you want to serve me, then start by serving my body. My body is the church, made up of individuals like you. Feed them, serve them, give them even a cup of water in my name and you will be serving me.”
Since we are saints called into service to the King, Paul implores us in Romans 12:1 by saying, “I urge you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”