Luke 17:7 says, "And which of you having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'?"
So Jesus is posing a question. If you were the master and your servant came in from working, would you have food ready for him? Would you tell him to come and eat? Well, what is the job of a servant? A servant's job is to serve his master. It doesn't matter that the servant is probably tired from working all day. That doesn't change his responsibility.
Now I need to remember who is asking this question. Jesus. The Servant King. Who came not to be served but to serve. This is the King of kings that washed His disciples feet. God incarnate that gave His life on the cross for me even though He is perfect and my sin is overwhelming. I think that Jesus is wanting us to remember as servants what our job is. It doesn't matter that we may be tired; that we may have had a hard day. Our job is to serve. We need to be ready in season and out of season. No matter what, I need to be looking for opportunities to serve. I know that a lot of times, helping others helps me because it gets my focus off of myself. By serving others we are serving Jesus himself(Matthew 25:40).
I know that this is something that I struggle with. When I am going through difficulties, I tend to feel like it's my right to take a break from serving. "I had a hard week." "I don't feel good." I find excuses. I just get tired and focused on me. It doesn't matter what is going on, there is always an opportunity to serve. And serving might not be physical work, it could be praying for someone. It could be however I can serve God and my neighbor. Like I mentioned before, when I am able to stop focusing on me and serve someone else, even when I don't feel like it, it helps me more than I realize. Jesus knew that He was going to be betrayed and killed and He still served. Even His death itself was an act of service. And I need to remember that if Jesus, my Master, can do it than I absolutely need to humble myself and be ready to serve always because, "a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him." (John 13:17).
This week, my back/hip have been giving me a lot of trouble and I'm not sure what's wrong. It keeps me from doing a lot of things that I would normally do. I want to participate in activities and I can't so instead of sitting there wallowing in self pity, I need to find other ways to serve, even if it looks different. What can I do that will serve my neighbors here? I need to remember that my "job" hasn't changed just because I'm hurt, it just looks different.
Application:
I am going to pray that God would show me opportunities that I can serve others still and I am going to strive to seek and seize those opportunities, no matter what they look like. I am also going to write "remember your purpose" on my left hand today and tomorrow so that I remember that I am here to serve.
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