Servanthood revisited

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:  Philippians 1: 1 NIV

Let us be specific about what it means to be slave of Christ.  It means that when He says to put your future in His hands, you cling to Him for help.  It means that when you are in class and a classmate tells you she doesn’t believe in God, you tell her how Jesus changed your life.  It means that at work, you don’t take anything from the company that doesn’t belong to you.  It means that you refuse to hold grudges against anyone.  It means that you tell the truth and do not gossip or tear down the reputation of another.  It means that you read the scriptures and pray just as Jesus does. It means that you give one tenth of your income back to God through the local church.  It means that you ask God daily, no, moment-by-moment to guide you.  It means that your life belongs to Jesus and you will not be ashamed to tell anyone that you love Him.  It has been said that the highest honor any of us can attain is to be called, not a leader in the church, not a success story on Wall Street or at Harvard, not the founder of a great movement; the greatest honor we can ever attain is to be called the slave of Jesus.  One day, as Jesus recounts for us how we have lived our lives, our hearts will pound with joy, our legs will tremble and our hands will shake if at the conclusion He says, well done my precious slave.  I told the account in a youth Bible study recently of how Abraham slave of God, was commanded to sacrifice his son of the promise on the altar.  Only when God stopped his hand from striking his son with the knife by calling out to him, did Abraham cease the downward drive of his hand.  Forever, Abraham is known as a man who walked by faith, who refused to allow his personal feelings get in the way of obedience to the God who loved him and gave His own life for him.  And I too, you too, if we walk as a true slave of Christ, can forever be known as one Who Jesus, the Savior of our life calls a man or woman with whom He is well pleased.