Being God’s Servant is Part of God’s Plan

John 12:26 (CSB)
26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

  • Salvation comes with both a call and a command.
  • Jesus modeled servanthood with humility and obedience.
  • God uses ordinary people to reveal Himself

Salvation comes with both a call and a command.

God saves us for a purpose. As we turn to Him and surrender to Him we are cleansed, justified and begin the maturing process of salvation. We are saved from sin. We are moved from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son He loves. But that is not the destination.

We are now in the family of God. We are maturing and being equipped to be His servants empowered by His Spirit to be used for whatever He wishes to fulfill His plan. He calls all men to repentance. The glory of the Lord will cover the earth…

Generally (Matt. 8:1; 9:19, 27; Mark 5:24; 10:32; Luke 22:54; John 11:31; 1 Cor. 10:4; Sept.: Ruth 1:14; 1 Sam. 25:42). The individual calling to follow Jesus involved abiding fellowship with Him, not only for the sake of learning as a scholar from his teacher (Matt. 8:19), but also for the sake of the salvation known or looked for which presented itself in such fellowship (Matt. 19:21; Luke 9:61). The first thing involved in following Jesus is a cleaving to Him in believing trust and obedience. Those cleaving to Him must also follow His leading and act according to His example (John 8:12; 10:4, 5, 27). Hence constant stress is laid by the Lord Jesus upon the need of self–denial and fellowship of the cross (Matt. 8:19, 20, 22; 10:38; Mark 8:34; John 8:12; 12:26). Following Jesus thus denotes a fellowship of faith as well as a fellowship of life, sharing in His sufferings not only inwardly, but outwardly if necessary (Matt. 9:9, 19, 27). Such outward fellowship with Jesus, however, could not continue without inner moral and spiritual fellowship, without a life resembling His and a self–denying sharing of His cross. The expression “follow the Lamb (Jesus)” occurs only in Rev. 14:4. In John 8:12; 10:4, 5, 27; 12:26, following Jesus appears as an independent concept apart from any outward act or momentary circumstances of time and place which union with Him might involve.

Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). AMG Publishers.

  1. διακονέω diakonéō; contracted diakonṓ, fut. diakonḗsō, aor. diēkónēsa, from diákonos (1249), servant, deacon. To serve, wait upon, with emphasis on the work to be done and not on the relationship between lord and servant. In doúlos (1401), slave, the work is involuntary, and also to a lesser degree in hupērétēs (5257), servant, one working under a superior in contrast to the voluntary service of therápōn (2324), attendant.
    (I) In its narrowest sense, diakonéō means to serve by waiting on a table, serving a dinner (Matt. 8:15; 20:28; 27:55; Mark 1:31; 10:45; 15:41; Luke 4:39; 10:40; 12:37; 17:8; 22:26, 27; John 12:2). With the dat. alone in Acts 6:2, “to serve money tables” (a.t.), i.e., to have charge of the alms and other pecuniary matters.
    (II) Generally it means to do anyone a service, care for someone’s needs (Matt. 4:11; 25:44; Mark 1:13; Luke 8:3), and is an inferred service rendered, bringing advantage to others, to help. One may work, douleúō (1398), and not help anybody, but when diakonéō is used, then helping someone directly is involved (Luke 22:27, John 12:26; Acts 19:22; 1 Tim. 3:10, 13; Phile. 1:13).

Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). AMG Publishers.

Philippians 2:5–8 (CSB) CHRIST’S HUMILITY AND EXALTATION
5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
6 who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be exploited.
7 Instead he emptied himself
by assuming the form of a servant,
taking on the likeness of humanity.
And when he had come as a man,
8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.

Jesus modeled servanthood with humility and obedience.

Just like Jesus, we must choose the attitude of a servant. It involves our humility and obedience.

Matthew 20:27–28 (CSB)
27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

John 20:21 (CSB)
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

Can you sense the gravity of this statement? Jesus is sending you on the same mission that He came to accomplish. In fact, He already has finished it. We are just walking it out.

As the Father showed Him what to do, He shows us what to do. We have been saved from sin and death, but we have also been saved for His work as His servants.

When we turn to God and receive His salvation we also join Him in His mission to redeem the world.

Serving a man is somewhat different than serving God. You ask your boss, “What did you want me to do?” They will tell you and then let you go do it.

Now it isn’t that there aren’t some parts of that with God. But He is supernatural. He not only requires us to do what He asks, but He also works through us to accomplish His will.

Have you ever been prompted by the Holy Spirit to ask a question, say a word, or pray?

Did you see Him move?

We are the clay.

Jeremiah 18:1–6 (CSB)
PARABLE OF THE POTTER
18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down at once to the potter’s house; there I will reveal my words to you.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel. 4 But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.

5 The word of the Lord came to me: 6 “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.

To be useful in the Master’s hands we need to be pliable.

James 5:17–18 (CSB)
17 Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.

God uses ordinary people to reveal Himself

Acts 4:13 (CSB)
THE BOLDNESS OF THE DISCIPLES
13 When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.

The world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to Him.

Henry Varley

D. L Moody was a shoe salesman. He felt called to preach. He went to an all-night prayer meeting with some friends and the next morning his friend Henry said, “The world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to Him.” These words moved Moody.

Later when listening to Charles H. Spurgeon preaching in London, Moody had a revelation. God would use any man. Education or position didn’t matter. Because it wasn’t the man, it was God doing the work. Moody was determined, by the Holy Spirit within him, to be one of those men.

God began to use Moody in mighty ways. Moody had come to realize that the work of God didn’t depend on what he had (i.e. intelligence, etc.) but on his surrendered life to Christ. God used him in ways he couldn’t imagine as he chose the life of surrender. He became one of the greatest evangelists of the nineteenth century.

Could God do the same thing through your life? You might say well I’m not Moody. But that is the great thing. God just needs you to be you. A vessel surrendered to Him.

Luke 7:28 (CSB)
28 I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John, but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

John had a short ministry. Some believe that it lasted around six months.

By the world’s standards, they might not consider that successful. But the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of our God have two different standards. Don’t compare things with the wrong one. And don’t compare yourself to others. God made you uniquely for His purpose. Have you surrendered to it?

Knowing God

  • God is love. His will is always best.
  • God is all-knowing. His directions are always right.
  • God is all-powerful. He can enable you to accomplish His will.
  • Salvation comes with both a call and a command.
  • Jesus modeled servanthood with humility and obedience.
  • God uses ordinary people to reveal Himself

Do you ever feel as if you are too ordinary or that you have failed too many times to be of use to God? If so, what does the Bible say about that?

Have you set conditions for how or where or when you will serve God? How do you think God views your conditional obedience?

Do you need to make a fresh surrender of your life to Christ and His service? If so, take the next few moments and offer yourself to God in a sincere, wholehearted act of submission to Him.

*Adapted from – Blackaby, Henry T.; Blackaby, Richard; King, Claude V.. Experiencing God (2021 Edition) B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

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