Grace and Peace to you in the precious name of Jesus Christ .
Hope everyone is doing great . I pray that the lock down situation gets better and the whole world is healed and restored from the unseen enemy in Jesus name . Amen.
Today I want to share my thoughts from a passage in Mathew chapter 20. There is a caring mother of Zebedee's sons. She asks Jesus for a favor . What was that favor?
20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
21 “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.”
She asks Jesus if each of her sons will be granted to sit in the right and left hand of the Lord in the Heavenly kingdom . That is a huge thing to ask right ! That was Mrs. Zebedee's throne request for James and John. The point here is that their minds were thinking about a literal kingdom where Jesus would be the boss and that the other disciples would be the big shots. In addition to all this , the other 10 disciples were aggravated and annoyed because of these two brothers. Wow! So this shows that they were becoming jealous and afraid of these two if they will take up the prime spots in heaven. Just being with the Lord wasn't enough for them . They wanted designations and positions .
In the same way this world everyone wants to run the show . They want to take up the center stage .Everyone is applying for the best positions to take up . They want to be the bossy boots and want their names on the top of the list. We want to be appreciated , praised and talked about . Think about it .Is this what Jesus expects of us .?
What was Jesus reply for this request of Mrs.Zebedee. Did he do her the favor ?
26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—
28 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.”
I am sure that must have sounded hard to her ears . She must not have expected that from Jesus.
Dear beloved friends in Christ our Lord Jesus wants us to serve. He himself stepped down from glory to die on the cross bearing our sin and shame . He left his heavenly abode where he was the darling of His Father .He came to serve mankind . He did not come to this earth as a lofty king but a humble child born in a manger . If God humbles himself for us how much more gratitude should we have for him. We need to be a serve others rather than waiting to be served . Our ultimate aim must be to build god's kingdom . We are all laborers in His kingdom . We serve the Lord .
How do you serve the Lord being on this earth ? Serve the people . If there is a job which is neglected and rejected by everyone in the church , take up that particular work and do it . Don't wait for people to reward your work and talk about it . The heavenly father who see your work will reward you in glory . One more thing never be envious about your friend in Christ about their raise . Don't complain about how well you would have done your friend's job if it was given to you. Don't grumble .Always feel happy about other's blessings . Thank God for His blessings upon you . God knows your name .He is not a partial God. Each of us are special and unique. Our works for Christ will never go away unrewarded and forgotten .
So today surrender ans ask God to forgive you if at any time you were having pride or felt envious about your neighbor. Ask God for that pure selfless humble heart . Lets have a heart of humility and work for the Lord with a cheerful heart . Jesus wants us to serve like He served.
Shalom Blessings
