Servanthood

John 12:26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

This verse really makes me think on how I can’t serve the Lord without first following Him. If I’m not following God with my whole heart, my acts of service won’t mean anything to Him. I won’t know His will for me and what He wants me to do if I’m not seeking after Him. Not only that but when I follow Jesus. I’m following Jesus! I’m with Jesus when I follow Him. And he desires for me to be content with where He would have me go when I follow Him. I get to serve Jesus in the ways He would have me. So often I think that my desires and wishes and the ways that I want to serve are better than the ways He would have me serve. I loose sight of Him and I stop seeking Him first and instead try to find contentment and praise when I do things for others. But God said that when I do acts of service to do them unto Him, He will honor me. Not others. Not my parents or my friends, my coworkers or such.  I let myself think that just because I’m doing what He asks of me and following the Lord, I will receive honor and recognition from others. But that’s contradictory to what the Word says. It says in Matthew 6:1 Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven. The take away for me is; I must follow God in order to serve Him. I must trust that God has me where He wants me and I mustn’t doubt Him, and I must never do things to be recognized by others or to receive their praise, I must do things unto God and receive His (even though I’m unworthy of it) reward in His due timing. 

Application: I will do an act of service for someone else without telling them in order to train myself to desire for the praise of the Lord only.