Verse of the Day - Mark 8:35

He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.” ~ Mark 8:35 (NLT)

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Jesus really knows how to zero in on human nature, doesn't He?

In our kingdom, we put ourselves first. We want front row seats, first in line, and the best cut of meat. We don't want to defer to someone else in a conversation when we want to talk. We like people to wait on us, doing for us what we don't want to (or don't think we should have to) do for ourselves. We don't want to let a merger in the merge lane merge. Not only to we want to elevate ourselves, but in our sinful nature, we sometimes even get some malicious pleasure in knowing that we lowered someone else on the ladder. At our core, we are selfish beyond measure!

But God's kingdom and God's subjects are radically different than our fleshly kingdom. Turning us upside down, Jesus says we must put ourselves on the bottom and put others on the top rung. We need to be the ones who hold the proverbial ladder while others rise up. So, how do we do that? How do we put ourselves in God's kingdom perspective, when all the world (and our inner selves) say, "Be first!"...?

I believe we must first submit our will fully to God before we can lay down our ego and pride and submit to other human beings. Beyond that, when we allow God's love to infiltrate our hearts and minds, He reaches out to others through us, and our godly compassion will, by God's prompting, take the servant position.

(NOTE: Being a servant of all does not mean "be a doormat of all". Please understand that. Do not confuse humility with humiliation. Subjecting yourself to abuse by others is not at all what Jesus is asking of you. If you are doing this voluntarily, I pray you can recognize the difference and seek God's help to remove this thinking from your mind. And if you feel trapped involuntarily in an abusive situation, I pray you can reach out to someone -- anyone -- for help, to stop the abuse and get healing.)

God's kingdom has no place for ego. His kingdom is built on principles of self-sacrifice and love, as demonstrated so magnificently by Jesus on the cross. If we are His students, then we need to take notes and learn. And as He said in Scripture, "No student is above his teacher..." (Matthew 10:24)

Self-sacrifice goes against our self-promoting nature, but it's God's way of thinking. It's God way of living. So, let's tune our hearts to God's heart and be about God's way of living, where we lift up others above ourselves, taking the position of a loving servant. Once we get over ourselves, we find that being selfless like Jesus is a blessed way to live -- much better than trying to puff ourselves up like a blow fish. :-)

Love,
Joelene