“But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:” ~ Philippians 2:7
Most of my life has turned digital. It’s easier. First thing in the morning I love to read the Bible on my phone. I can easily highlight verses that capture my attention and make notes.
This morning I was not feeling the motivation to get up. I read part of Philippians 2 and rolled over ready to get some more sleep before having to start my day. This verse kept rolling around in my head. “Took upon Him the form of a servant.” That is the Creator! I have not been able to shake the thought that Jesus, God of all, when He came to earth as a man, took such a humble position. He could have come as a king or rich man, someone in a comfortable position. But He became the son of a simple carpenter, taking the form of a servant.
We say we are trying to be Christlike, but how many of us are servants in the church, our community, or our families? How many of us are not waiting on acts of servanthood to present itself, but that we actively seek to be servants? Maybe we have even had opportunity after opportunity present itself, but we turn our heads like we don’t see it. I’ve been guilty of that a time or two. “This could be a perfect moment to tell someone about the Lord. But I don’t know what to say.” “They have enough help so I’m just going to head home.” Finding reasons for it not to be a servant moment, does not mean it wasn’t.
What is a servant really?
Everyone knows a servant is someone who serves. Another definition of servant translated from the Greek word δοῦλος (pronounced doo-los) is “devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests.” When you are devoted to another, you aren’t thinking how unfair it is that you didn’t get to eat breakfast because you had to go pick up someone after their car broke down. Your concern lies with who you are devoted to. “God, did you present this situation so that I can be a witness?” That’s what your attention is set on.
It’s hard to be a servant and be selfish at the same time. Cleaning the church and going outreaching doesn’t sound like the ideal thing to do when you could be going swimming at your mom’s house or going shopping. Unless you are a servant. When you are a servant, your fleshly wants get pushed to the back burner. All of a sudden the wants and needs of the Lord, family, and others becomes what you want.
What about if we love God, but our family gets on our nerves or we’re not really a people person?
I believe Matthew 25:34-40 gives us the answer to that. “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
The Lord says that whatever we do to strangers, it’s done to Him. If we cannot serve our family, friends, neighbor, how can we serve Jesus? What did He do while walking the earth? He was constantly serving others. The Lord wasn’t sitting at home when the lady with the issue of blood touched his garment and was healed. He had just cast the devils called Legion out of a man and was on His way to raise Jairus’ daughter from the dead. To be like Jesus is to be a servant.
It becomes tiring though, I know.
Maybe this is just that little piece of being an introvert, but I get exhausted from seeing people sometimes. We have church on Sundays and Wednesdays. I work Monday through Friday. Then after work we go visit people or go out to eat with family and friends. Then the weekend comes and all day Saturday we are on the go seeing people. I feel like we have had five minutes to ourselves in weeks. Simply exhausting. It isn’t like that all the time, but the months that it is, I need a social break.
Sometimes we even have to say “no, I can’t do that.” Why? You cannot keep the world going by yourself. If you are a wife, mother, working full-time, teaching Sunday School, and all the other little things no one even realizes you have on your plate - then know you can say “no.” You are asked to help decorate for a baby shower. But you have been going 90 to nothing all day, still have to go by the bank, cook dinner, and get the kids in bed. You’ve been a servant all day. Sometimes we have to take a step back and realize we cannot do anything.
I believe we all need a break every once in a while. Take a Saturday evening off from doing everything. Stay home and read. Go for a run. Do something to ease that mental fatigue. God created sleep for us to recharge for the next day. We have to stop and recharge socially as well. Take that time and then go back out there and serve again. For a doer, a full-time servant, that is a hard thing to do. You want to make everyone happy. It’s okay to not say “yes” every time though.
Be available. Be helpful. Be a servant. Be like Jesus.
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