A Slave to My Lord:

In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, “We are good-for-nothing slaves; we’ve only done our duty.”-Luke 17:10

            

           Luke 17:10 and the parable which Jesus tells before the verse came crashing down against my pride like a ton of bricks these past two weeks. Jesus in verses 7-9 tells a parable of a Lord who has a slave working out in the field and when the slave finishes working hard, the Lord expects the slave to make his dinner. The slave does all of this work without a thank you or any act of gratitude. Even more shocking the slave doesn’t even expect to be thanked! Jesus than sums up the parable in verse ten in which Jesus says, “In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, “We are good-for-nothing slaves; we’ve only done our duty.”

            

           My pride was crushed when I read this verse. Individual have been patting me on the back and congratulating me for going to the field for the past two months. Individuals unintentionally began to place Julia and I on a pedestal and I am ashamed to say I believed them. I began to think that I was the best thing to ever happen to missions and that God needed me. I began to believe that because I said yes to missions, God would bless me, my family and our ministry.

            

           God used verse seventeen to remind me that He does not need me. God will accomplish His purpose with or without me. I am nothing more than a slave obeying my Lord. When I view myself as a slave it teaches me not to expect anything from Christ. I am able to do whatever my Lord asks of me even if it means laying down my life. Christ, my Lord, called me to go and I obeyed. I am not special, I am not extra spiritual, rather, I am nothing more than a slave who heard my Lord’s voice and obeyed.

           

             In conclusion, God has been stripping me of my sense of entitlement these past two weeks. God has been teaching me that His Kingdom does not need me and I have the privilege of serving God. In the same sense that it is foreign for a slave to disobey His Lord it should be foreign for us to disobey our Lord. Have you been obeying your Lord?