ECIPLESHIP for Passionate Christ-Followers

We tend to feel smug in our service to the Lord. We also like God to congratulate us on our “great” accomplishments.

After Jesus talked about forgiving someone seventy times seven, the disciples begged Jesus to give them more faith. He responded with a parable we rarely consider…maybe because it doesn’t naturally sit so well.

⁷ “When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? ⁸ No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ ⁹ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. ¹⁰ In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’” Luke 17:7-10

There may be several things that may have stricken you as unfair as you read the parable. After all, we’re really not so much into the master/servant thing these days. And that might be part of the challenge for us Christ followers. We don’t get this service thing so well.

Here’s the point of the parable: you ARE God’s servant and you MUST continue to do your duty. It doesn’t matter how hard you have worked, how many years you have labored, how often you have “sacrificed” in your estimation — you keep on doing it. Because it is the right thing to do. It is your duty.

So–this makes me ask a few questions of myself:

• Do I truly see myself as unworthy?
• Do I embrace the fact that I am a servant of Christ and nothing more?
• Am I doing what I was told to do with all my strength?
• Is there anything I am expecting God to give me because of my goodness?

We have never finished our job. We have never over given Christ. We never have reached a point where God owes us, the church owes us, or someone else owes us. We need to be faithful today — again — by doing our duty with everything we’ve got. And with joy…