Life of a Servant

Chuckle: "Many girls like to marry military men. They can cook, sew, make beds, are usually in good health, and they take orders well."

Quote: "The measure of a man is not how many servants he has, but how many he serves." --D. L. Moody

". . whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:43-45 NIV).

To live a life of victory and fulfillment, you should recognize that God saved you and remade you to be a servant. We are all to be servants, not bosses. When we try to run our lives and try to be the boss or king, we do not achieve what God wants for us. Real significance comes when we begin to serve God by serving others.

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords left his place of glory at the right hand of the Father to be a servant to you and me. That's why he touched the leper that no one else would touch. He hugged the publican tax collector and a Pharisee that no one else would hug. He went home with Zacchaeus that no one else would be seen with. He reached out to prostitutes, outcasts, and others because He came to serve. What about you? What is your attitude toward being a servant?

If we aren't careful, we will find ourselves serving to be served. Let's say you are asked to teach a Sunday School class. You prepare and do your best, but no one comes to say, "that was a good lesson - you did a great job." How do you feel? Do you say, "thank you Jesus for giving me an opportunity to serve"? Or do you go home upset because you didn't receive praise from class members? If so, you didn't teach to serve but to be served. If someone says nice things about our acts of service, we are blessed, but we should not do them for the praise of people.

The night before Jesus was crucified, he came together with his disciples and washed their dirty feet to teach them a lesson in servanthood. Bill Hybell captured the essence of being a Christian servant this way. "I would never want to reach out one day with a hand that is soft, uncallused, not dirtied by service and take hold of the nail-pierced hand of Jesus." Satisfaction and significance in life comes from service. Are you missing out on the joy of serving others?

T.S. Mooney had a lot of money, power, and prestige. Even so he gave 50 years of his life teaching boys in Sunday School. His class mission statement read: "Every boy will have a Bible in his hand, the Savior in his heart, and a purpose for his life." He led hundreds to Christ and watched them lead lives that made a difference. He kept records and prayed for them. When he died, a book of names was found under his body. He died praying. At 70, he was running a youth activity at his church. Are you willing to be a servant?

Love, Jerry & Dotse