Choosing to serve vs. Choosing to be a servant

Wow. The first page of the devotional just filled me with the reality of how meaningless our lives are without Jesus. Our daily labor is all in vain without Him and His grace and His purpose for our lives. We go on in our routines and meaningless strife for nothing, unless we have Jesus. It reminded me of the book of Ecclesiastes, where King Solomon looks for meaning in this world and finds none, except for in Jesus. Ecclesiastes 1:14, he says “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

The purpose that God has for us here on this Earth is described perfectly in John 12:23-27. I loved the way it was said; when service is carried out to perfection, it results in death—death of self, desires of the flesh, and also physical, bodily death. These two sentences were the most convicting for me: “Jesus who was the King of kings subjected himself as a slave to be crucified for the world. Could being a Christian mean anything less?” Jesus showed us the FULL EXTENT OF HIS LOVE by doing this for us. Another pivotal verse was John 13:8, where Jesus says “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” This is the basis of our faith—that Jesus washed us of our sin and paid for it in full. The only way for us to be forgiven was for Him to die on the cross and bear all of it for us. He is the perfect example of servanthood executed to perfection—death.

The end part of the reading describes the difference between choosing to be a servant and choosing to serve. It was very convicting. I am guilty of choosing to serve—picking and choosing who and when I will serve. I am reminded that He chose to be a servant—He served EVERYONE, He served them ALWAYS and He served them TO THE DEATH.