Scripture
Our verse for today comes from John 12:26, ” Whoever serves Me must follow Me. My servants must be with Me everywhere I am. My Father will give honor to anyone who serves Me. “
Background
It has become common among Christian circles to hear people pray and say, ” It’s not about us, it’s all about You, ” You might hear this phrase invoked at the conclusion of worship services, during a Bible study or Sunday School class, or when a group of people head out to perform some service of ministry.
It’s a powerful thought that serves to set our minds on Almighty God and get them off of ourselves. God being the Creator and we the creation, He certainly doesn’t need to be reminded that everything revolves around Him. But we are much more easily deluded. So as I looked through the scriptures, I wanted to know if that popular catch phrase was actually in the Bible. And in the places that I looked, I could not find it. But what I did find were scriptures like the one we have today, verses that express all of that sentiment, and then some, in a very practical way. It might be easy for us to recite that it’s all about God, when the ” all ” is some intangible, spiritual idea that dwells in our minds. When we’re worshiping in church, or reading His Word, or with His people, it might be natural and expected that we would say everything is for God and His glory.
Application
But when Jesus puts hands and feet to our doctrine, when He tells me that I am His servant and I am to go wherever He goes, then my ” all ” tends to sound more like ” some. ” If we believe that His Spirit is alive and real and moving on this earth, then we are supposed to be following it wherever it is. If we’re not somewhere or ministering to some people, is it more likely that His Spirit is not there, or that we are not following our Master? It truly is all about Jesus. And that makes the doubt, fear, ill will, grudges and selfishness that’s in our hearts while we say it, all the more heinous. His servants must be with Him everywhere He is. And since we cannot see Him, we must be listening. But is your heart able to hear? Are you following Him so that you can serve Him? Take a look at your ” it. ” Is it really all about Jesus?
Charge
As we seek Him today, is Jesus the One that you are following? Are you His servant, or would He call you something else?
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