Father, life has so many highs and lows and they can feel like Mt. Everest highs and Death Valley lows! But the one constant in our lives is You! It is such a comfort that You are the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). I am grateful for the stability You provide in my life!

Mark 9:33-37 (<<click to read the passage)

Of all the jobs I have had, one of the most rewarding, hands down, would be when I served as a Children’s Pastor for five years. At that point in my life, I was challenged to complete a course of study leading towards ordination. The denomination I served in connected that area of ministry with being ordained as a deacon. Individuals who were pursuing pastoral ministry, as in the pastor of a church, would seek to be ordained as an elder. I went the elder route because I strongly felt that I was the pastor of a church – my members were just much younger and shorter!

The Lord led me down other paths but I still love children! (And that for sure helps with being a school bus driver!)

In the second portion of the Scripture from yesterday, Jesus gives a visual for how the disciples (and ourselves, as well) should interact with one another. We are to love another as we love ourselves (Mark 12:31). And love, when it involves leadership, is expressed in servanthood.

So why use a child to drive home the point? In their culture, in particular, children were treated as second-class citizens (according to my Life Application Study Bible). Using a child then helped Him emphasize his command,

“If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all [in importance] and a servant of all.” AMP(emphasis mine)

We live in a culture which places an exorbitant amount of emphasis being on top – and it makes no difference how many people you have to step on to get there! Unfortunately, even the Church, in some instances, has fallen victim to this detrimental mindset.

Lord Jesus, may our greatest goal be to serve. May nothing be below us. May we always be looking for ways to lift others up. As John the Baptist declared in regards to You, “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” (John 3:30 NLT)

May 21st, 2019, Tue, 5:25 pm