By Andrew Williams – June 3, 2022
And they arrived at Capernaum; and when [they were] in the house, He asked them, What were you discussing and arguing about on the road? But they kept still, for on the road they had discussed and disputed with one another as to who was the greatest. And He sat down and called the Twelve [apostles], and He said to them, If anyone desires to be first, he must be last of all, and servant of all. And He took a little child and put him in the center of their group; and taking him in [His] arms, He said to them, Whoever in My name and for My sake accepts and receives and welcomes one such child also accepts and receives and welcomes Me; and whoever so receives Me receives not only Me but Him Who sent Me.
Mark 9:33-37 AMPC
Good morning fellow disciples.
Are you like the disciples who spend time with God but you don’t really focus on Him in the time that you spend with Him? Are you so concerned about being better than the rest of your fellow disciples that you lose sight of God who is walking alongside you?
“And He sat down and called the Twelve [apostles], and He said to them, If anyone desires to be first, he must be last of all, and servant of all.“
A servant: “One who expresses submission, recognizance, or debt to another.” An obsolete meaning of servant is ‘subject’.
Subject is defined as “Being in a position or in circumstances that place one under the power or authority of another or others.”
Can you imagine hearing this from Jesus?
After you have been arguing with your fellow disciples about who is the greatest, your Lord and Master says to you:”if you want to be the greatest you need to place yourself under the subjection and authority of everyone that you’ve been arguing with.”
What a total turnaround! If truly understood, it meant that the disciples needed to repent.
Repent means to turn from what you are doing and then go in the opposite direction. Now they would have to stop thinking about being great and start thinking about being humble. Now they would stop trying to be Lord and Master and start being the servant.
What are you trying to be? Are you trying to be the master or the servant? If you’re not following Jesus’ teaching on being great you need to repent!
Prayer: Father God, I place and position myself under Your power and authority. I also position myself to serve all others in order to bring glory and honor to YOU! Amen.