Mark 9:33-50
Wednesday, 6 July 2022
“If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” -Mark 9:35
For our meditation today, we will look into what it means for us to be great in the Kingdom of God and of the danger of pride. “Greatness” as God sees it is opposite to what the world thinks it to be: in the world, a great man lords it over/rules others; but in God’s Kingdom, the greatest is he who serves!
The question before us is have we become proud of what we possess or jealous of others having success? Pride can get the better of us if we are not careful to identify it in our lives. In vs.33-37 of our reading, Jesus corrects the perspective of His disciples. Even if many of us might not agree but Christ Jesus knows our heart and He clearly states to the disciples that God considers someone great when he or she is willing to invest their lives in serving the needs of other people; He Himself showed us that example which we read of in Philippians 2:7-8: - “but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross…” Jesus willingly gave up the glory in Heaven to come down to earth and humbled Himself, pouring out His life for the redemption of all—even for those who hated Him— where instead He could enforce them to bow down to Him!
About Himself Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) His life was an example of serving- He had no selfish ambition and was always doing things for other people—using His power in the service of others and the greatest service was to give His life to set us free from the bondage of our sins. He suffered all the anguish, pain and torment of hell that we should suffer and came to experience the judgment and wrath of God against our sins. In dying for us He gave Himself! Galatians 1:4 [NLT]: “Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.”
What is it to be great in His Kingdom? It’s when we recognize ourselves as servants of God which requires total obedience to the will and mission of our Heavenly Father. Our duty— called to share God’s mission to save the lost, to live a life of love and meekness making deliberate decisions to do acts of love for the good of other people, putting down our own self-interest before that of others! Like Jesus, a willingness to make sacrifices.
Instead of making it “big” in this world, can we humble ourselves before the Lord, considering His eternal purposes and unique calling on each one of us for His work for glory of His Kingdom? Let us ask God to help us to have a better understanding of the vision of His great plan for us which can assure and provide direction for our lives on this earth. This can free us from our self-seeking goals and help us to serve others with God’s unselfish love in our hearts!
Thought for the Day: “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” 1 Peter 4:10 [NLT]
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