Tag: Humility

A Servant

On By BrianIn PASSION ReflectionsLeave a comment

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
(James 1:1, ESV)

Notice James’ self-description: “A servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”  That is his self-description.

Now that is not how I would do it.  If I was James, I would open it this way: “James, a brother of Jesus.”  Let me just remind you of how close I am to Him.  Recall my intimate connection to Him – we are brothers, you know. 

Wouldn’t you be tempted to play the brother card? 

That is how our world operates.  We try to impress each other with our connections – I know so and so, look at me!

James, a servant of God – just a servant.  And of the Lord Jesus Christ – not my brother but my Lord!  He is the master; I am just a servant.  He is the Christ, the promised King; I am just his servant.  I am a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Is that your self-description?   Is that how you see yourself?  Would you introduce yourself that way?  Hi, I am a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As His servant then, let’s humbly serve him.  It’s not about you or me; it’s all about Him.  It’s not about what we want, but about what He wants.  It’s not about our amazing ideas, but about His truly wise plans. 

So let’s join James and humbly serve the Lord.  Serve Him in our homes.  Serve Him in our church.  Serve Him in our community.  Serve Him with our time and money.  Serve Him with our words and actions.  Serve Him even in our suffering.  Serve Him with whatever strength God gives us. 

We are servants of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.  So let’s humbly serve Him with all of our lives.

His Sandal Strap

On By BrianIn PASSION Reflections

John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
– Luke 3:16 (ESV)

John says he is unworthy to untie the strap of Jesus’ sandal. 

That would have been an unpleasant job, to say the least.  People walked around on dusty dirt roads.  And unlike where I live today in the middle of winter, it was hot where Jesus lived.  People would often be sweating.  So the strap of a sandal would be grimy and smelly with dirt and sweat.   

And the great prophet John says he is unworthy to untie it.

Is that your view of Jesus? 

You would be unworthy to even untie the smelly and grimy strap of his sandal?

That even such a yucky task would be a privilege you are unworthy of because of His so much greater worth?

Serving Jesus in any way is a privilege.  Following Jesus is a privilege.  Any blessing He gives is a privilege.

Consider His great worth that makes any connection to Him at all a privilege. 

And then live like it.

Saturday Strands

On By BrianIn Uncategorized

Here are some loose strands from various places for your growth:

The Difficult Discipline of Joy: What Keeps Us from Seeing God? – Clinton Manley (DG)
Joy is indeed a difficult discipline. Greed, self-centeredness, and the relentless pull of inattention constantly creep in and cut us off from divine delights.

With Friendship in Decline, Belonging Is a Powerful Apologetic – Sam Allberry (TGC)
What will show the presence of heaven itself among God’s people? What will show that God is alive and well and right here? It’s our love for one another. This isn’t an afterthought, as though what really mattered were other things and our love for one another was the icing on the cake. No, the quality of our relational life is to be an apologetic to the world around us.

Humility and Overcommitted Busyness – Alasdair Groves (Ligonier)
I want to direct our gaze to a significant blemish on humility in our own generation where we need further chipping and sanding: our overcommitted busyness.

Unpacking “Look inside Yourself” – Brian Rosner (Crossway)
Humans are not self-defining, isolated units. The biggest problem with only looking inside to find yourself is that it is hopelessly reductionistic, ignoring crucial dimensions of what it means to be a human being. Human identity does not exist in isolation, it cannot be defined without reference to the narrative in which it finds itself. We know ourselves by looking around to our closest relationships, back and forward to our shared life stories, and upward to something bigger than ourselves. We are profoundly social, deeply story-driven, and we have eternity in our hearts.

Flashback: The Shepherd’s Care
Is this how you think of God – as a gentle shepherd?