Last Tuesday, we showed how important it is to take control of our thoughts and to control what we choose to let into our minds in order to prepare our hearts for Kingdom living. Today, I want to share another thing I learned to do that helped prepare my heart for Kingdom living. It’s all about putting others before ourselves and seeking moments to serve our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is a message that Jesus kept hitting hard during his ministry. In fact, every time His disciples argued over who would be the greatest in the kingdom, Jesus answered that the greatest would be the servant of others. To nail this point home, Jesus left us an example of service by washing His disciples’ feet and then explaining His expectations for all of us:
“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:14-15 ESV).
I am humbled every time I realize that the Creator of all, the God of heaven, washed the dirty feet of His creation. I cannot fathom how I can ever make excuses for not having to serve others and put them before myself. How can I justify that when I stand before Him on the day of Judgement?
And so I began to look for opportunities to serve. And Matthew 6 really hit me hard. Jesus teaches us to do our good deeds in secret and not before men:
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:2-4 ESV).
There is something about seeking out opportunities to serve others that changes the way you think about what is important. And this results in cultivating a heart ready for the Kingdom of heaven. Listen to what the Spirit says about our service to others:
“But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 John 3:17 ESV).
“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4 ESV).
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2 ESV).
“Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” (Romans 12:13 ESV).
And the examples in James 2 and Matthew 25 continue to show how our God teaches us to adopt a posture of service. Unless we do, we cannot develop the character that Jesus wants us to develop. It’s hard to live a selfless life and harbor a selfish heart. The key is to guard against seeking glory through the service. As we learned in Matthew 6, once we covet the praise for our service, we lose out on the transforming power it will have on us.
So, how can we cultivate a servant’s heart? For me, it is happening with purpose. Service rarely occurs by happenstance. I purposefully determined to develop a servant’s heart. Whether it’s an opportunity to take care of a monetary need within my ability, provide food or clothing, be ready to help when illness strikes, volunteer for opportunities that come through our local congregation, or offer a word of encouragement when given a chance, I am opening myself up to service in whatever way I can offer it.
And this kind of service goes beyond just helping fellow Christians. If we develop the heart of a servant, we will humble ourselves whenever we see the need. We will be like the Good Samaritan who helps his neighbor when he sees someone in need. This was Jesus’ answer to the question, “Who is my neighbor?”
“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37 ESV).
A heart prepared for Kingdom living is a heart that shows mercy to those created in the image of God.
I am nowhere close to being the servant I want to be, but I seek the opportunity each week. It might be something as small as a cup of cold water given in the name of the Lord, but my goal is not to let the week come to an end without having offered at least one distinct act of service. I’d encourage you to make this part of your Christian life.
“For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.” (Hebrews 6:10 ESV).
I am in the Psalm in my daily Bible reading. As the collection ends, we are reminded not to trust man but God. In the 146 Psalm, we read:
“Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.” (Psalm 146:3-4 ESV).
In a political nation, I wonder if we put too much trust in the princes of men. Every election seems to be the most crucial, the last grasp to get things the way we want them to be.
For those who serve in the Kingdom of God, it is never too late for things to turn out the way God wants them to turn out.
Rather than wring our hands over the election of princes, we need to sleep peacefully in the presence of the Lord. That’s what the Psalmist says:
“The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 146:9-10 ESV).
Let us pray for goodness, righteousness, justice, wisdom, and that God will be honored. If we pray for these things and not just for a political party or our prince to be elected, our God may answer our prayers regardless of who gets elected.
Let’s pray to God for the eternal blessings we want, which will survive beyond the grave of our princes.
Be not dismayed...
When things happen to us beyond our control, God is there to pick us up.
When things happen to us because of our actions, God is there to pick us up.
When we sin, God is there to pick us up.
There is never a time beyond God’s ability or inclination to help us when we need His help.
“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10 ESV).
I just finished up the book of Ruth in my daily Bible reading. This book drips with messianic shadows of the great redeemer God would send to Israel and the Gentiles, making one people from many.
While I see an overarching type woven into this story, today it struck me that there is also a personal story in Ruth. This story belongs to Naomi. It is a personal story we all need to hear and remember when our lives are shattered and upended.
This godly woman had to leave her land with her husband and two sons because of a famine. While in a foreign land, her sons married two Moabite women. Life was as good as it could be under the circumstances.
But then her life began to shatter. First, her husband died, leaving her a widow. A few years later, her two sons also died. Naomi was left a widow and childless, lost in a strange land. But by the grace of one of her daughter-in-laws, Ruth, she was not alone.
She and Ruth make the trek back to Israel. Although she has land, she is impoverished and cannot redeem her family’s inheritance and is on the verge of losing everything. While her relatives were happy to see her back, Naomi wasn’t feeling blessed:
“She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” (Ruth 1:20-21 ESV).
Have we ever felt this way? We suffer a great loss, and it seems that the foundation of our lives crumbles beneath us, leaving us exposed and stripped of joy.
In times like these, we feel the way Naomi felt when she returned home. It’s hard to see any good when our heart breaks from a loss. It’s hard to see how the pain can ever go away or how joy can ever find its way back into our lives.
Naomi is grieving. But the book of Ruth shows us that God can restore joy, even when we cannot see how it is possible. He tenderly wraps us in the healing balm of time and helps us slowly start to see the joys He still has for us, even in the wake of our pain.
Naomi ends up with a daughter-in-law who loves her, a redeemer who will protect her family’s inheritance, and a great-great-grandson who will be her people’s greatest king.
God didn’t remove Naomi’s pain, but He did help her find life again when the world she knew died around her.
Ruth is an amazing messianic story foreshadowing the redemption of Jesus, but it is also the amazing story of Naomi that teaches us of God’s deep love and His power to put shattered lives back together again with hope.
Forgiveness is easier when people come prostrate before us, begging for forgiveness.
It’s easy to show grace when people deserve it.
It’s natural for us to serve people who can return the service to us.
But Jesus calls for us to be spiritual, not natural.
“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” (Luke 6:35 ESV).
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32 ESV).
“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36 ESV).
It’s Saturday.
The Lord will probably not come today.
If He returns soon, it will likely happen on the Lord’s Day.
Today will likely be a safe day to party and put off doing what we know we should do.
Tomorrow, we can prepare for the return of the Lord.
Tomorrow...
“For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,
and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:37-39 ESV).
I’m in the book of Proverbs in my daily Bible reading. It’s amazing how often the author advises us to spend less time talking and more time remaining silent.
Wisdom is in the man who judiciously chooses his words without rushing to be heard.
King David always sought the Lord before going into battle. For the most part, so did the Israelites under Joshua. When they did not, they faced needless defeat.
When we go into a spiritual battle or face someone to whom we must deliver a tough message, do we seek the Lord’s help first?
Seeking the Lord’s help first is wisdom. Trusting in our own ability to succeed is folly.
We are much more gluttons for punishments than we are gluttons for goodness.
We watch things on TV that we know will make us angry, yet we still watch them.
We hang with people we know will bring us down, yet we still hang with them.
We waste hours away with useless activities when we know they will stress us out when we see how unproductive we have been, yet we still waste away the hours.
We spend too much time in our heads, practicing pitched battles with others when someone does or says something that offends us, knowing it turns up the heat, yet we still simmer in anger, letting it fester.
We take too many things personally rather than looking at disagreements objectively, knowing it will cause us to dig in our heels and act out of defensiveness. Yet, we continue to react to disagreements personally.
Rather than continuing to be gluttons for punishment, what would it do to our lives and experiences if we became gluttons for goodness?
What would happen if we could identify the punishments we put ourselves through and replace them with spiritually productive habits?
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23 ESV).