Called Forth To Serve

Good morning on Veteran's Day 2016! Not all of us felt the call to serve our nation in the armed forces. However, in Christ we are called forth to serve Him and our neighbors. That call began with our Lord's mission, stated here:

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

In our flesh we often feel a call to rule, some more than others, but servant leadership seems a lost art among us in this age. Back in the day of our Lord, many tried to force Jesus the Servant to become Jesus the King. That still seems rather backwards to me, but perhaps that is the Spirit's work in me. Jesus is the King of kings, but not all of us together could force the Lord to sit on a throne of our choosing. So, why then do I catch myself trying to rule over the Lord by expectation in my prayers?

Faith is praying for His will to be done and waiting in expectancy for the working of His will in my life. Expectation is praying something and expecting Him to hop to it. I can't pray 'Thy will be done...' and then pray for nothing but my will to be done; that just doesn't work out. Service is not going to the ruler and telling him what my will desires. How far would that get with a human king? Yet, there have been those times when I have found myself doing just that with the Lord in prayer.

Therefore, on this Veteran's Day my prayer is that the Lord by His mercy and goodness will strengthen me to serve and to know what service is in every circumstance. Blessed be His name!

Bucky