The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Luke 17:10,
"So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"
This is a point Jesus taught about completing what his disciples are asked to do. Just as a servant is not praised and honored for simply discharging his duties, so we should not adopt an attitude that we are worthy of special honor or treatment for discharging what God's has asked of us. I note he does not say we should not take satisfaction in our efforts, but that we should not feel we deserve special treatment for doing what we've been asked. "We have only done our duty."
What might be the basis for such an outlook as this? My thought is that it is found in what we have received from God. Just as a friend might help me all day long with a difficult project I needed help with and ask if I'd call his wife to let her know he is on the way home at the end of the day, how unfitting would it be for me to feel I had really gone out of my way and done something special for my friend, as if he owed me something for calling her? How unseemly would that be? It would certainly indicate I had little appreciation for all he had done for me!
Perhaps, when I feel I have done something for God, as in bringing an offering, or sharing the gospel, or helping a brother or sister in need, in order to bring some needed perspective on "what a wonderful person I am" for having done so, I might consider all God has done for me.
Without any compelling reason from my end, God has demonstrated his unfathomable love for me. Lost in my sins and facing his certain judgment I rightly deserve for things I have thought, said and done, he sent his Son to die a miserable death to take my punishment on my behalf! Without any compelling reason from my end, God has brought me into his family, endowing me with eternal life, a life with the promise of happiness and fulfillment. A life of joy, bliss, riches and pleasures this life cannot provide. Without any compelling reason from my end, God has blessed me with wonderful brothers and sisters in this life to bring me encouragement and fellowship. He has blessed me with the Holy Spirit who enables me to understand things about him and to equip me to be useful. Without any compelling reason from my end, he has given me access to his Word in the Scriptures that provides me with an understanding him and things I would never be able to fathom. God provides me encouragement, hope, joy and strength.
The list goes on and on. You get the point… if I have ever done anything God has asked of me, it could never match all he has done for me, not even in the smaller part of it! For this, when I do what is asked, I have to admit, "I am an unworthy servant; I have only done my duty."
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
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