Born to Serve

In Matthew 2:1-12 we find the story of the wise men coming to find the Christ. Traveling, searching & seeking to find the One promised to be the King. They traveled a great distance, sought directions in Jerusalem, and then followed the star God had set before them. All to come worship the King. And when they arrived at the place Jesus was staying, they did just that. The bowed down before Him. They brought Him gifts. They honored Him. They worshiped Him. They came & did all this for the King. All for the promised Messiah found in the baby Jesus.

But if we flip a couple chapters over in the life of Jesus, we see a very different Jesus. In John 13 we find Jesus on his hands & knees washing the feet of His disciples. Doing the work of the lowliest servant, we see Jesus washing, cleaning & honoring His disciples dirty feet.

So what happened? What transcended in Jesus' life to go from being worshiped & honored as a King, to now doing the work of a lowly servant? Why do we see such a different Jesus?

TRUTH: Jesus didn't come to be a great earthly king. He came to serve. Mark 10:45 tells us Jesus "didn't come to be served, but to serve." Jesus was born to serve. He even made "Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant" in Philippians 2.

So if Jesus came as nothing, only to be a servant, why do we try to be everything? Why are we always wanting to be somebody? Why do we desire recognition & want others to think we're great? Why are we striving for popularity, money, friends & all kinds of "stuff"?

You see, the King of the universe came to this world as a lowly servant. He came not be served. But to serve. And John 6:38 tells us that was God's will for Jesus' life.

So why do we so often think that's not God's will for our life? How do we think we somehow escape that & are called for great recognition?

Jesus came as servant. He was born to serve. Born to put others above Himself.

And we are called to imitate Him. Jesus tells His disciples after washing their feet to go imitate Him & do to others as He has done to them.

That's our calling. That's our purpose. That's God's will for our lives.

Be a servant.

JV

*Please read this through the understanding I'm not knocking down striving for greatness. We are called to be the best & give our best to God. What I'm pinning down here is questioning our motive for greatness. Do we strive to be great to honor us? To be recognized? Or to honor God? To glorify Him? That's greatness. 

Love Never Fails

This past month we've been digging into love. God's love for us. Our love for God. And our calling to go & share God's love with this world.


1 Corinthians 13:8 tells us "love never fails." Seems like such a great statement & truth, but somehow we see love failing every day. Friendships come to an end. Our Facebook status changes from "in a relationship" to "single." Marriages turn to divorce. People walk out on us. Homes are broken. If love never fails, then why do we see love failing every single day? How is it love can often be so conditional?


Here's the problem: we live in a world of broken love. We live in a world that doesn't know what love is. That teaches love wrong. Misrepresents love. Replaces love. And as a result, love fails. We fail at love. Others fail loving us. Love in this world simply fails.


BUT here's the good news: we have a God who loves us with an unfailing love. A never ending love. Psalm 36:7 counts God's unfailing love as "priceless." God's unfailing love that always protects us. Is always trustworthy. Gives us hope. And an unfailing love worth fighting for. God's love never fails.


And God demonstrated His unfailing love for us through His Word. In the OT, God promised His people over & over redemption. Freedom. Life. All through a Messiah that would come & fulfill all He had promised from the beginning. And then that Word, God's promises, became flesh. Became a reality.


We see God's true unfailing love for us come ALIVE in the birth of Christ. God has given us a love that never ends through Jesus' birth.


So as we celebrate Christmas, remember the significance of Jesus coming to Earth. His birth was so significant because God fulfilled all His promises to us through it. The promise God had given from the very beginning, became real that night. The promise of His unfailing love. All through the birth of a child.


So as you go through this Holiday season spreading Christmas cheer, be sure to pass along God's unfailing love to others as well. This world needs it. This world wants it. And it's our job to give them a love & hope that will never end.


JV