Greatness in Worship!

We all, if we were honest with ourselves, long for our lives to be great! We long for our actions to outlive our bodies. We long for life to mean something! We are certainly at no loss, especially in our culture, for definitions of success. From media to marketing, to friends and family, to bosses and bureaucrats, everyone is pushing a definition of greatness! Books have been written to help us “reach our potential!” And we are assured, that if we follow these 20 easy steps, we too can be great!

But we are Kingdom people. We are a people whose citizenship lies in God’s country. So it stands to reason that if we long for greatness, we should seek for what greatness means in our homeland. What makes someone great in God’s Kingdom? Most of us have heard the answer, but how quickly we expatriates forget. Listen to Jesus' words in Mark 10:43-45, “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” It appears from this verse, and several others, that what matters to God is not a shiny new car, or big promotion, or fame. Quite the opposite, what makes us great in God’s eyes is to be like His son; compassionate, forgiving, and one who serves. Not only serves, but serves like a slave, expecting nothing in return.

Our homework this week is a little dangerous. This week, ask God with a simple prayer, “God, would you show me how you want me to serve others?” And God will be faithful to answer that prayer with visions of true greatness!

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