The Heart of a Servant—2 - Friday March 12, 2010
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. Mark 10:45
Once our heart is willing to selflessly serve, the next step is to pay attention to the needs and opportunities around us. Part of being a selfless servant is to take time to notice opportunities to serve.
How easily we become consumed with our own important work. Of course people should serve me, because I have to prepare the Bible study, or make the meal, or call all the people, or…. We have a nice list of reasons why others should be serving us. But this was not Jesus’ attitude. He came to serve, and was always looking for ways to meet the needs of others around Him.
The example of the apostle Paul impressed me recently. How’s this for a stressful day? After enduring the harrowing experience of the storm at sea where all were sure they would die, and after surviving the shipwreck by clinging to pieces of debris from the ship, Paul was finally washed ashore with the other survivors on the isle of Malta. And what did Paul do at this point?
Let me show you: “But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire…” (Acts 28:3). While most of us might have thought we deserved a bit of a break, Paul did the menial task of gathering the firewood! He, like Jesus, did not come to be served, but to serve.
Step Two of effective servanthood is to see the needs and opportunities right under our noses. May God give us eyes to selflessly serve those around us.
Submitted by:
Daniel P. Goering
Die Brücke (The Bridge)
Cologne, Germany
One-Year Reading Plan:
Numbers 16:41-18:32
Mark 16:1-20
Psalms 55:1-23
Proverbs 11:7
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SCRIPTURE REFERENCB-ES: Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible B) The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the Holy, Bible, New International Version, copyright B) 1973, 1978, 1984 by InternaB-tional Bible Society; (NKJV) are from New King James Version B) 1982 by Thomas Nelson; (NLT) are from the New Living Translation, B) 1996, Tyndale House Publishers; (ESV) are from English Standard VersionB., B) 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers; (TM) are from The Message B) 1993 by NavPress Publishers.