Him Only

Then said Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall thou serve. Matthew 4:10 Employees at WalMart wear a vest with the question "How may I serve you?" on the back. As far as I know, they have worn them for years and many people probably don't pay any attention to the question. The very nature of the question implies a willingness to help whenever and wherever needed. I suspect the store's management wants to let the customers know how important they are to WalMart and to emphasize the fact that the employee's number one goal is to serve the customer. Undoubtedly more than one employee of WalMart has had to serve an unhappy customer at one time or another. However, the attitude of the customer is not supposed to change the attitude of the employee, nor affect the quality of the service. Although admittedly not a common comparison to serving God, that question on the WalMart work vest makes me think of different ways to serve. Some people serve in the armed forces and some people serve in public service such as restaurants or retail. Service encompasses a vast array of occupations in all arenas, both secular and religious. In the community where I grew up, signs in many of the churches read, "Enter and Worship, Depart and Serve." I haven't seen many of these signs in a long time, but I remember them still and I wonder how others perceived them.