Based on our January devotional series, you might be thinking, “Hey, I serve in the church. I volunteer. I teach a class. I work in AWANAs. I sing in the choir, etc…” In other words, if you are involved in serving the Lord in ministry, then that must prove your salvation, right? Wrong. Let me give you some biblical examples.
Numbers 22-24 tell the story of the Balaam, a prophet of the eastern religions who worshipped many gods. When Israel came to camp on the plains of Moab, the Moabite king, Balak, paid Balaam to curse the nation of Israel. God forbid this. He even sent an angel to stand in Balaam’s path and caused his donkey to speak truth to him. Even though Balaam was an unsaved pagan prophet, God used him to prophesy before Balak and to bless the nation of Israel.
Remember a fellow named Judas Iscariot? He was chosen by the Lord Jesus as one of the original twelve disciples. Of course the Lord knew who he was as stated in today’s verse.
Judas was fully involved in the Lord’s ministry. He spent night and day with Jesus for over three years. He was not only an unbeliever; he was a traitorous betrayer.
Judas walked the walk so closely that even the other disciples did not know who the betrayer would be until that surreal moment in the Garden of Gethsemane. So, serving does not make you a Christian.