Duty has been described as reverence, respect for authority, regard, or more specifically, the social force that binds you to your obligations and the courses of action demanded by that force. Years ago, I memorized a quotation about duty:
“Duty, then, is the sublimest word in the English language. You should do your duty in all things. You can never do more. You should not wish to do less.” General Robert E. Lee
General Lee applied the subject of duty to a soldier, and we should understand that application, as we are all soldiers. Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me,” in Luke 11:23, summing up the two opposing sides of the spiritual battle. Soldiers understand that they are mere representatives of their commander in chief, who makes decisions with lives on the line. Those decisions have nothing to do with their rights.
As Christians, we are representing our Commander in Chief, who has purchased our lives at a great cost, with His own precious blood. In fact, by looking at the life and death of Jesus, we can better understand what it means to carry out our duties regardless of our desires. On the night before the crucifixion, when in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to the Father three times that if there was any other way to accomplish this great task, to please, let it be done. Then He lovingly and nobly took the most difficult steps that gained our salvation and His death! So what is our duty?
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:1-2
In the same manner that Jesus accepted the Father’s will, our duty is identical. We are to do the will of the Father. Paul’s explanation points us to the fact that we are to become living sacrifices to the Lord. That is such a vivid picture, as in the Old Testament sacrificial system, the animals being sacrificed died on the altar. Yet in this analogy, our bodies are not dead sacrifices, but alive. Have you ever promised the Lord that you will walk away from a sin, and then found yourself involved in that sin again? The sacrifice you made to the Lord crawls off the altar and lives again! Yet God forgives each time we ask for that forgiveness. Be careful that you never take that forgiveness for granted. According to the verses in Romans, it is our “reasonable service” to give the Lord our bodies. That means to walk away from fornication, drunkenness or any other sin that makes our bodies dirty. Remember, the Lord lives inside that body! When we become Christians, God changes our hearts, yet our brains still retain the old memories of our sinful lives. By following God’s Laws, our behaviors change to match His ways. Over time, those old sinful memories don’t carry such a magnetic attraction to us.
Reasonable service is duty, just like in General Lee’s description. That duty is reasonable, for you can’t do more. You shouldn’t wish to do less, especially when you remember what Jesus did for you!
27 It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.
Romans 15:27
13 Stay this night, and in the morning it shall be that if he will perform the duty of a close relative for you—good; let him do it. But if he does not want to perform the duty for you, then I will perform the duty for you, as the LORD lives! Lie down until morning.”
Ruth 3:13
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