Friends, to serve God we must achieve two things... Pleasing God and making a difference in lives fellow men. If these two are in our deeds, no matter how, where and what, as long as we do so for God, and sincerely, we have served God... Isqil Najim
I once lived in a compound with a young couple who were very religious and everything one can think of in serving God. They attended house of God so frequently and observed regular night Virgil. They fast and went in pilgrimage. They dress well. Their rooms were filled with many inscriptions of glorification of God and attestation to their religion.
I was attracted to them and naturally, I saw them as role.models and began to get closer to the family.
Then I started to see the inside. The wife gossiped like radio station and is fond of running down others behind them. She would quietly walk to the kitchen and use up the water belonging to one of the neighbors who was, at that time, visibly poorer and single working guy who would leave the house in the morning and returns late at night. The poor man would return from work at night only to find his water tank empty while others have their tank-filled including the couple's. Mostly securely locked up. Some times, he would have to go out at night with his tiredness to fetch water few meters from the house.
This couple saw his predicaments and hardly offer water to alleviate his suffering despite they were directly responsible for his pain. Not only that, they also run down fellow men. I got exasperated one day and told them what I think about their actions.. I told then their religion and hours of serving God is absolute trash until they learned to serve others; respect then and honour every living soul they come across regardless if their status and creeds.
Didn't your religion said love thy neighbors? So where is the love when you deliberately plunged someone into unnecessary pain every night whereas you have your interest well protected? I ranted on and on... The woman felt ashamed and started avoiding me thereafter. The husband also took note of my points and changed for better. At least they both discovered that I am illiterate in quoting scriptures. The young man also began to have peace of mind as the couple stopped the bad habits, even though I didn't tell him what I did behind him to halt his miseries.
Over the years, I have seen worse than this. Men and women who practically camped in house of worship like it is their oxygen sac.... But their acts of worship can best be described as mechanical act. They are just on spiritual roller coaster. Unable to distinguish between serving God and spiritual exercises. And it is these men who more often talk a lot about the important of religion.
Serving God is not the mechanical acts of going to and from houses of God and hymning melodious incantations and songs... One can be sleeping and serving God. One can be walking and serving God. One can be talking and serving God. One can be idle and serving God. The mechanical acts doesn't serve God. Tt is what transpire in our mind, in our heart and that thin cord between us and the creator and our attitude and relationship with fellow.man.
We will be deceiving ourselves if we think we are serving God by reciting special verse, song or by going to church or mosque. God doesn't need these things. He want us to make a difference in everything we do. And in lives of others we associate with.
We can serve God at work. When we look at that client who has so much challenges and we assist him get what he wants legitimately, we are serving God. When we look at our spouse and uphold that thin line of faith, trust and commitment, even when we are away from them, we are serving God. When we sit alone and pray for our friends and enemies, we are serving God...When we lend a hand to the helpless, who has no power to reward or repay us, we are serving God. When the words that come out of our mouth are those that inspire others to positive actions, we are serving God.
To serve God, it can be anytime. Anywhere and anyone... It is the faith and the deeds that count and not how, where and what we do to serve God. Some serve God by going hungry for days, others serve God by sharing their foods with those who are hungry. Some serve God by preaching piety, others serve God by walking their talks and serving as role models that others can follow. Some serve God by reading scriptures others opted to act it...Some serve God by going to houses of Worship, others serve God by going to houses of neighbours and guide them aright.
Friends, to serve God we must achieve two things... Pleasing God and making a difference in lives fellow humans. If these two are in our deeds, no matter how, where and what, as long as we do so for God, and sincerely, we have served God.
I am @isqilnajim
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