Being a Servant...

Matthew 20:26-28 "It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Philippians 2:5-8 "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of eat, even death on a cross."

What is your definition of a servant? Better yet, what would the world's definition of a servant be? Would it be something like a person asking his master what he wanted done? Then the master would tell him what he wanted accomplished and the servant would go off by himself and do it.

But look with me at Jeremiah 18:3-6 "Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. The the word of the LORD came to me saying, 'Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?' declares the LORD. 'Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel."'

Could there be a definition of a servant tucked away in these verses? I see the clay having to do two things. One it has to be molded, thereby making the clay responsive to the potter. This allows the potter to fashion any instrument he so chooses. Two, it needs to remain in the Potter's hand. Think about a bowl or a cup that has been made. Once it is made and set aside, it has no ability to do anything whatsoever by itself. It will just sit there unless the potter uses the bowl or cup. So it needs to remain in the potter's hands, so the potter can use that vessel in any way he chooses.

When you or I come to God as His servant He is desirous for us to allow Him to mold and shape us into the instrument of His choosing. Then He can take our lives and put them where He wills and work through them to accomplish His purposes. Just like that piece of pottery, you and I have no ability to do the command of the Lord except to be where He wants us to be.

When God is working through His servants, we can do anything God can do. Think about the potential there...unlimited! We need to be obedient and, at the same time, remember who is accomplishing the work---God. In other words, we don't necessarily get our orders from God, like in the worldly concept, and then go out and do them. We relate to God, respond to Him, and adjust our lives to Him so that He can do whatever He wants to do through us.

Our relationship with God must come first, then, find out where the Master is. That is where you and I need to be. There definitely will be a difference between the quality of service and the quantity of lasting results when God is working than when it is just us working!