Servanthood

— For the week of January 9, 2011 —

Service is an act;
Servanthood is a lifestyle
— LeBron Fairbanks

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.
— Matthew 20:28

Mary and Don were two of the funniest people in the world. Their marriage was full of laughter and love for each other and for those around them. Then one day Don went out one snowy morning to shovel the sidewalk for his next door neighbor. He suffered a fatal heart attack, and Mary was left alone in their home that had echoed for more than 30 years with such great joy.

A group of college students from Mary's church adopted her as their own grandmother. For the next year they dropped by to visit, shopped for her groceries, took care of her yard, maintained her car, and gently made sure she knew they were around. She told everyone they were her "angels".

It is easy to love others on paper. It is quite another thing to show the love of God to someone who needs desperately to see it. It takes work. It takes money. It takes time.

When we become Christians, Jesus calls us to be like Him, and Jesus got involved with people — not just by addressing the multitude from the mountaintop, but face-to-face and one-on-one.

Are you serving only from a pulpit? If so, you are stunting your growth and depriving yourself of tremendous joy. Pray for opportunities to serve people in special and unusual ways. You will never be the same!

Taken from The Minister's Little Devotional Book.
Copyright © 1997 by H.B. London Jr. and Stan Toler.
Used by permission of RiverOak Publishing, Tulsa, Okla.
All rights reserved.