Serve - II

An unworthy servant filled with joy

MEMORY VERSE

Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink?  Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?  So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ (Luke 17:7-10)

REFLECTION

We have all been called to give ourselves to God’s service. What aspect of God’s ministry are you already participating in or feel prompted to participate in --giving, evangelism, prayers, teaching, counseling, helping others, performing miracles, leadership, tidying the church? We need to understand that we are serving God in those various capacities and none of these acts of service should be despised because God is the motivator for them all. 

When serving God, your service may be clearly visible to others, but many times it goes unnoticed. This worries us so much because our human weakness causes us really to want to be recognized and appreciated. But we should never lose a single breath over it because our Father in heaven notices our service without fail.   When we serve our fellow human beings who God has placed before us, we need to understand that it is not a must for us to receive appreciation. We should not even desire it. The Bible clearly explains that the more praise we get from people, nothing or less will be the praise from God.

The amazing thing is that God takes our acts of service and adds His power. Serving is the opportunity to partner with God, our Master.  If we really love our Master, we will rejoice over the privilege to serve others.  And with the deepest gratitude and sincerity we will say, “We are unworthy servants. We have only done our duty.”

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

1.Which areas of serving God have you despised, tried to avoid or considered “inappropriate” for you?

2. When have you wanted people to notice your acts of service but they did not?

3. What attitudes is God prompting you to change?

4. Who is God prompting you to humbly serve?

ACTION STEPS FOR THE WEEK

Find a way to quietly serve God this week by serving someone in a way that no one will know it is you.

Our guest blogger this week is Patrick Obiga Anyule.  He is the Executive Director of CAFECC (Christian Action for Empowering Church & Society) in Arua, Uganda.  His life is an example of Luke 17:7-10.  He is a great source of encouragement and inspiration to PEER Servants.