The call to serve

Service carries high value in the Kingdom of God.

Service is not about self. It is not about us. It is others focused.

Service is love in action.

We are all called to serve. It is primarily through the way in which God designed us and through the ways in which we are gifted, but it is also includes doing the menial, the things we would rather not do. And Jesus exemplified this.

John 13: 3-5, 12-15 (NIV)

3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

In Jesus’ day, roads were mostly made of dirt. Washing a guest’s feet was a common service which was usually performed by the lowest-ranking member of the household staff. It was considered the lowliest task for the lowliest person. One of the messages Jesus was conveying through this act, is that nothing is too menial for even Him to do. The Son of God, the Savior of the world, our King and Lord did something that others appreciated but would not do themselves because they considered it beneath them.

How about you? Is there anything you consider below your design, below your calling, beneath your station in life? Is anything too menial for you?

Jim Kubiak is interim senior pastor at Harvest Valley Worship Center, a refuge for healing and a launchpad for transformation. He can be reached at hvwc.com.