Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

Mark 9:35.

 

Jesus was very clear that the path to greatness lay in serving others by obeying God. Although He was the Son of God, He learnt obedience by what He suffered, obedience to His Father’s will. It was in obedience to God that Jesus became a servant of all.

 

What is the position of God in your life? Sometime we dishonour God by taking His position when we decide by ourselves what to do tomorrow and when we begin to tell God what to do, how we want Him to do it and when we want Him to do it. Unfortunately, by man’s plan driven by sense knowledge, so many of us have taken over the future. And when we make plans for tomorrow without reference to God, we are guilty of the sin of arrogance and self-sufficiency.

 

Only the present is ours. No man knows by the present sign what the future holds; the future belongs to God and God is the Governor of our future. The position of God in our life is power. Our will must submit to God’s will before His power can work through us and for us. God’s power is for Christian services: to save, to heal, to deliver, to bless others. We serve God when we help our fellow brothers. Therefore, our attitude towards God and our fellow human being should that of a servant for God’s sake. Love and be loved but love for God’s sake. Help and be helped but help for God’s sake.

 

Take this lesson from Jesus. Jesus knew who He was and where He was going. That is why He became the servant of all. Because He knew this world is just a market; He knew He was just passing through. John 13:3-5: “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

 

So today, if you know you are a child of God, if you know that one day you are returning to God and resting in Him, the best way to use life is to spend it on something that will outlive it.

 

  • Love someone more dearly every day.
  • Forgive someone from your heart every day.
  • Give away what your life depends on every day.
  • Sow to the Spirit every day.

 

That is how you can be servant of all.

 

GOD FIRST

“Let’s take a lesson from David who was ready to be humiliated in his own eyes, so that God could be honoured. Ask yourself: Where does honouring God appear in your list of priorities? Do you thank Him for all that He has done in your life, all the way long? While men look at the outside, God looks at the motives of the heart. Instead of worrying about the opinion of others concerning you, let the motive of your heart each day be to honour God before yourself.”

THE SACRIFICE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

“There is no time to do what is right. We must set our heart to obey the Word of God, all the time. God’s kind of lifestyle calls us to do what is right in the sight of God at all times, even though it is contrary to what we naturally want to do. Choosing to do what is right is a great test to the flesh.

What is the sacrifice of righteousness? Choosing to do God’s will rather than our own. When our flesh says hate, God says love. It takes sacrificial love to love your enemy and to pray for them. These are the weapons of righteousness. This is the sacrifice that Jesus looks at and rewards. Even though that might not be a grand, or outward sacrifice, it is what Jesus values.”

LIFE ANEW

“When we talk of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are talking of the rare opportunity He has given to all believers to experience a new beginning – a situation in which every dead area of our lives receives life anew.

We are dead to our past and alive to our future. Sin’s power over us is broken and we now put on Christ’s new life: we live in Him, move in Him and have our being in Him. Herein lies the significance of resurrection.”