Luke 17:8 IBS

Tuesday September 2, 2014                         

Luke 17:8 “But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterwards you will eat and drink’?”

            Selfish. That is my first thought on this. Of course this is Jesus talking to the apostles and explaining the situation and how you should be more faithful, but if a person was really talking to their servant that way I would picture it extremely rude. I can imagine a really snobby voice saying this. It’s crazy to think that a person who is lazy and does nothing is asking the person who has been working in the field all day to do more work and prepare their meal. In the minds of the wealthy, sure that makes sense…but in the mind of a Christ follower I foresee that being different. Well at least for me. I want to be able to serve those who have served me. How self-centered I would be to only have people wait on me and to not return the favor. But also noting that I don’t want to return the favor because I feel like I have to, but because I want to bless someone else and show them the love of the Lord.

            In doing that, I need to seek Him because I can do nothing without His strength as Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all thing through Christ who gives me strength.” I need to ask for a servant’s heart, a joyful heart to be able to go out and bless others. No attention on myself either, all glory goes to the Lord. This verse seems to be to seek out a prayer for a change of mind and heart so you can do what the previous verse says, “And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat?’” (Luke 17:7) (Which is what the IBS was for yesterday)

            Application: To remember that I need to be serving others and to have a joyful heart, I will write selfish with an ‘X’ through it on my hand.