BYM ONLINE DESK Blessing English Emagazine December 2019 | Page 15

www.bymonline.org | December 2019
He took time to discuss spiritual birth with a Pharisee
named Nicodemus who came to Him at night (Jn 3:1-21).
After spending time with a Samaritan woman whom
others would have avoided, Jesus stayed for two days with
the people of her village as they urged Him to stay and share
with them (Jn 4:1-42).
Why was Jesus so willing to be interrupted,
inconvenienced and criticized in order to meet the needs of
others? One reason is because He came to earth as a servant:
“…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,
and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mat 20:28). He
willingly set His own rights aside and “made Himself
nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…” (Phil 2:7).
Therefore, when He encountered people who needed His
help, He willingly gave them His time, energy, love, and
ultimately His very life. He realized that as a servant, His
calling was to give of Himself so that others might receive
physical and spiritual blessings. He became poor so that
through His poverty others might become rich (2 Cor 8:9).
Another important reason why Jesus so willingly
adjusted to the needs of those around Him is because He
sensed His Father leading Him to do so. As He shared, “I tell
you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do
only what He sees the Father doing, because whatever the
Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son
and shows Him all He does…” (Jn 5:19-20). Jesus was not a
man-pleaser who was pulled here and there at random by the
whims of those around Him. Instead, He was fully in
control, and His service was always very intentional. He
simply joined in what He saw His Father doing.
Jesus was able to discern the opportunities His Father
placed before Him because He was completely devoted to
His Father and His Father's will, and because He often spent
time in prayer with His Father (see Mk 1:35; 6:45-46; Lk
5:15-16; 6:12; 9:18; 22:41-42). In other words, His service
to others was the natural outflow of His relationship with
His Father. From that relationship Jesus received direction,
strength, wisdom and power for ministry, and was prepared
for every encounter with others.
I recently heard someone say that“Jesus never went
out of His way to help others…” I was taken aback by this
until I heard the rest of the statement: “…because helping
others was never out of Jesus' way.” Helping others was not
out of Jesus' way because the course of His life was set
toward serving needy people. He did not view such people
as interruptions and inconveniences, but as the very people
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His Father sent Him to serve. He took these many
encounters in stride because of His servant's heart and
because of His desire to walk in loving obedience to His
Father.
We Are Called to Serve
As in all things related to our Christian walk, Jesus
serves as our perfect model of servanthood. We are called to
serve just as He did:
“…whoever wants to become great among you must
be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your
slave just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but
to serve…” (Mat 20:26-28).
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,
but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each
of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to
the interest of others. Your attitude should be the same as
that of Christ Jesus: Who…made Himself nothing, taking
the very nature of a servant…” (Phil 2:3-7).
Just as we are called to serve as Jesus did, we can also
expect challenges similar to those He faced. Serving others
will often mean interruptions and inconveniences to our
schedule, as well as the possibilities of criticism. As in the
case of the Good Samaritan that Jesus used as an example of
one who loved his neighbor, service requires self-sacrifice
and costs us time, energy, and our resources (Lk 10:30-37).
It means that we must lay selfish ambitions aside, and look
to the interests of others, considering others better than
ourselves (Phil 2:3-4).
Because it is often very demanding to serve others,
the Word of God encourages us to persevere:
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the
proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all
people, especially to those who belong to the family of
believers” (Gal 6:9-10).
“God…will not forget your work and the love you
have shown Him as you have helped His people and
continue to help them. We want each of you to show this
same diligence to the very end…” (Heb 6:10-11).
Of course, to develop and maintain such a servant's
heart, we must follow Jesus' example and spend much time
with our Father seeking direction, strength, love,
encouragement and power for ministry. “If anyone serves,