Jesus Came to Serve
OPENING PRAYER:
Lord, this week as we consider Jesus Christ as a servant help me to rely on you as my guide and example in my daily tasks. Amen
“Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. “What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.” When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” Matthew 20:20-28 NIV
REFLECT:
Many years ago, when we moved to California, we bought a house that was not self-healing and needed a lot of special attention, which I was not good at. We had a kitchen faucet that was seriously corroded and leaked all the time. One evening we were in Costco and displayed right in front of me was a box with a faucet just like we needed to replace our faucet. Pictured on the front was a man in a suit and tie with the caption, “Replace your old faucet quickly with this unit.” It sounded easy enough. I started replacing the old one at 6:00 p.m. in the evening and at 3:00 a.m. I was still trying to unfreeze the corroded pipes. My wife convinced me to go to bed because I had to teach the next morning.
When I got to the college the next day, I looked bedraggled. The college president saw me and asked what was wrong and I told him. He happened to be very handy and said he had just the right tools to take care of the problem. He told me how to use them and if I still had problems he would come out and help me do the replacement. What a relief came over me! After class I took his tools home with me and in a short time, I had the sink fixed.
What the president did for me is what Jesus does for us. Jesus came to serve us like the president did for me that day. We need to turn our concerns and problems over to him and he will guide us through them.
APPLY:
Too often we try to handle our problems by ourselves without turning to Jesus and asking for his guidance with the problem. Remember, Jesus came to serve and to save—let him guide you as you work with your problems.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Lord, you tell me to trust in the you with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding; in all my ways I will acknowledge you, and you will direct my paths (Proverbs 3:5&6 NKJV paraphrased). Amen
CONTINUED READING:
John 13:1-17, Luke 22:24-27, Philippians 2:7
WORSHIP: