Christian Duty

My Bible study this morning brought me to the verses of Luke 17. Jesus had been talking with the apostles about faith. Verses 7-10 talk about our duty as Christians. We've all got this mental list somewhere of what we need to do as a Christian. Some people use this list as a check list thinking it will get them into heaven - wrong! We aren't saved by our works. But that doesn't negate our duty. We still have to do what we're supposed to do. If we love Christ, we will keep His commandments. Even when it's not easy.

When my children do a great job, it's important for them to hear it. They like to be praised, and it encourages them to do more. When I get my kitchen pretty and clean, I enjoy it when my husband notices and compliments me. But in verse 10, we are the servants mentioned. When we get our little list finished, it's tempting to think we will be praised. The things we do are our duty. It's merely our job, nothing more. It's what we were supposed to do anyway. We should obey because that is our duty.

We can't rely on the fact that we are saved by God's grace and use that to ignore our duty. We aren't saved by our works, but we still have to work. We can't rely on praises to do something right. We have to just do it. It's our duty.