LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Sunday 15th May 2022
ONE WHO SERVES
Scripture Reading: Luke 22:1-30
For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves. Luke 22:27
Jesus says He did not come to sit at the table. That means He did not come to be waited upon or to occupy a prestigious position. Rather, He came to serve. That is the same calling the Lord is calling us into.
Service is at the heart of every call of God. God does not call us to be bosses; He calls us to do His will by serving the people He places in our care. When we serve, we allow God to use what He has given us to touch other people’s lives.
The problem is many of us have a negative, stereotypical image of what a servant is. We equate service with slavery and servitude. We think the role of the servant is degrading and something that puts us down instead of it being something that lifts us up. We associate servants with low achievers. As a result, when the Bible calls us to service, we immediately see it as a call to take a step downwards instead of a step upwards.
Sadly, there are many people in all walks of life – politics, church, corporate organizations – who stop serving when they are promoted or given a high-sounding title. They assume that sitting at the table is what life is all about.
The reality is that to go up, we must go down. Before a tree shoots up, it has to go down with its roots. Without deep roots, a tree cannot go high enough and still remain standing. A high-rise building must have deep foundations in order to go up high. The depth determines the heights. That is what service is all about.
When we serve, we build the foundation for the heights that God has called us to. Until we are ready to serve in humility, we cannot reach out to the high calling of God for our lives. Many of us may never be able to reach the high calling of God for our lives because we are not ready to really serve with humility.
May the Lord grant us the humility to serve in the place He has called us to.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I am at your service. Teach me not to despise any service that you call me to offer. In Jesus’ name, Amen.