Energy springs from willingness. Ask children to do something they don't want to do, like clean their rooms, and nothing happens! But tell them you're off to McDonald's and they're like streaked lightning, sitting in the car even before you finish the sentence.
Rebekah lived a beautiful life of servanthood. She never dreamed how her serving heart would open the greatest doors of her life, but she discovered that serving opens doors of destiny.
Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking." So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels.
(Gen. 24:18-20 NIV)
Rebekah doesn't complain that she has just been down at the well to get water for herself. She offers to get the man some water but she also offers to water his camels, even though the well was deep (around 50 steps would have descended to the water).

A camel can drink 25 gallons of water in one sitting. Ten camels make for the possibility of 250 gallons. Even if Rebekah had managed to carry five gallons up the steps each time, it could have taken her as many as 50 trips up and down the steps. Notwithstanding the effort required, she is keen! Unbeknown to Rebekah, this man, Eliezer, has just prayed that the woman who offers not just to satisfy his request for water but also to water his camels would be the woman destined for his master Abraham's son, Isaac.

Serving is an issue of the heart. Rebekah wanted to bless the man. She had no idea that there would be any reward for her efforts. Money can easily steal the heart. Once we receive money for what we once did freely from the heart, our willingness and enthusiasm can be compromised. In 1 Peter 5:2, Peter calls on us to serve the Lord with our hearts, not for money. Serving is its own pleasure. It is not motivated by any other reward.

Energy springs from willingness. Ask children to do something they don't want to do, like clean their rooms, and nothing happens! They become like sloths—cute but slow. But tell them you're off to McDonald's and they're like streaked lightning, sitting in the car even before you finish the sentence. We are energized when our will is engaged. Fatigue follows the unwilling. We are tired when we're doing what we don't want to do. If we'd always rather be elsewhere, we'll never enjoy where we are right now. If we'd rather be doing something else, we won't have the energy or focus for what we're doing right now. Aligning our will and our action is basic to successful living.

The willing heart is:
  • Impelled rather than compelled. Motivation comes from within rather than from some external pressure outside us. "People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing; that's why we recommend it daily." (Zig Ziglar)
  • Agreeable, not disagreeable. We all think of the other point of view in a conversation, but we decide to focus on points of agreement rather than the points we disagree with. How painful is it when you're trying to hold a pleasant conversation with a disagreeable person? It's just hard work. The willing heart finds ways to agree and flow with people.
  • Executing, not excusing. The willing heart finds reasons to do, rather than reasons not to do. People with excuses reveal an unwilling attitude. Billy Sunday defined an excuse as "the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie." The person who is good at excuses is usually not good at anything else.

Source: Top 10 Qualities of a Great Leader by Phil Pringle
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers