I gave you milk
to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even
now you are not yet able,
Insights: The third characteristic
that defines a mature Christian who eats meat is SERVICE. There are a few times in the gospel where
Jesus over hears His disciples talking about which one of them is going to be
the greatest in Jesus’ newly formed kingdom.
One day Jesus stopped and said these words to them, “If
anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all (Mk. 9:35).” In fact, Jesus went so far to engrain this
truth into His disciples that on His last night he put on the servants towel and
washed their feet. The apostle Paul
wrote, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom
as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another (Gal. 5:13).” We have the freedom to obey God or the
flesh. Paul tells us to obey God and the
way we display that obedience is in service.
Jesus is so profoundly set on this concept of service and obedience that
He equates it with love. He said in His
final teaching to His disciples before His death, “If you love me, you will keep
my commandments (John 14:15).” But just
like yesterdays thoughts on love, today’s thoughts on service are the same. It is not always easy to serve those that act
like they don’t want to be served. It is
hard to serve those who are different from us.
You know the types of people I am talking about, those that smell
differently than we do, those whose income is less than ours, those whose
lifestyles are subject to suspicion, and those whose ethnicity is not the same
as ours. But what does Jesus say, “Serve!” Jesus is using those difficult situations and
purging us of our old selfish and sinful nature. He is maturing us and turning us into meat
eaters. The more we serve the more deeply
we are able to receive the rich truths God wishes to dispense into our
lives. Let me draw today’s devotional to
a close with a short quote from Gregory Frizzell. He wrote, “We
cannot truly walk with Christ and take the easy way out.” Beloved, let us take the hard straight road
and follow after Jesus with a servants heart.
Questions:
- In what arena are you serving the Lord?
- How much effort are you relinquishing to the Lord’s will?
Prayer: O God, Your are Master and Lord.
Your will is all that truly matters.
Forgive my heart which is so often wayward and so frequently fails to
obey You. Continue to purge my life of
self and bring me to the place of humility so that I may serve You freely and
wholly with great joy. Amen.
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