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Lent Day 5

 Scripture Reading

Philippians 2:1-11


SERVANT--What image does this word bring to your mind? Does it make you think of a butler or a maid, as depicted on some of our favorite television shows? Is it a person that is a doormat or one that waits on others only because they are incapable of helping themselves? The world view around us leads us to believe that being a servant is a sign of weakness, a failure. The media pronounces loudly, "It is all about you! What do you want?" In contrast, the Biblical view is just the opposite, it says that being a servant is the highest honor one can have. It says to be a servant is to be like Christ. And what is a Christian? A person who wants to be more like Christ each day. Biblical servant-hood is demonstrating qualities such as selflessness, humility, and the ability to think of others first. Remember the childhood acronym JOY...Jesus, Others, and You! To be like Christ we must be willing to be self-sacrificing and to love others more than ourselves. God gives us the mind to choose. We can choose to serve ourselves and our own gluttonous desires or we can choose to have the attitude of Christ and serve God and others. 


The only example we have of a perfect servant is in Christ. His attitude (the heart of his actions) was driven by God's desires and not his own. A perfect and holy God humbled himself in such a way that he left His rightful place in heaven, took on the form of a sinful man and died on a cross bearing the world's sin. He is the model we are to follow. Although, the task seems daunting, God has given us the grace and mercy to be servants as well. We are carried by Christ, the servant redeemer and king promised from the dawn of time. 


"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). 


Prayer: Lord, I pray that I would be a servant to others and that my heart and actions would reflect the attitude of Christ. May my knees bow and my tongue confess that you are Lord. Amen.

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