Reflections from April 30, 2010

Today we continue in our learning's of the parables of Jesus and read in Matthew 20:26-28, "Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just at the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."

James and John, sons of Zebedee, had come to Jesus with their mother and requested that they each sit on the right and left side of Jesus. Jesus indicated they must drink from the same cup as He was going to and be baptized in the same manner as He was going to be. Then he ended with the words of verses 26 to 28. This is still the example we want to follow today; that as a servant.

What it means to us today is that we must see ourselves as called by God to serve and lead others; we must have a close relationship and care about with those that we serve and lead; and as Jesus so willingly showed us, we must be willing to sacrifice our own convenience in order to meet the needs of the people we serve and lead.

From Proverbs 30:5 we read, "Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him."

This is a good reminder to me that reading from the Bible every day helps to build and reinforce the strong hedge of protection that God provides with His written word. Also, by reading words of purity, it starts my day with God's thoughts which are pure and perfect. Much better than my thoughts.

Proverbs 31:27 tells us, "She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness."

How true this is for my wife! In fact, sometimes I try and encourage her to take a break and relax. She is an opposite of another wife I know that essentially does nothing to help her husband in the ways of household duties, wage earning, etc. I can see how God's influence on stirring up a desire to serve by being a virtuous woman makes for a much more warm and wonderful marriage. When a woman does not strive for meeting the qualities of Proverbs 31, it can actually strain a marriage, just as if a husband was not showing the qualities of a man described in Joshua 1:7-9, "...Be strong and of good courage, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." The Lord God is always with the virtuous woman.

Blessings to all