11/23/2021
By washing His disciple’s feet Jesus gave us an example of how we are to behave, love, and humble ourselves in service to one another. As He taught this lesson to us, He not only spoken to us about the significance of this specific event, but also about how we are to look at His life in total, and use it as a larger template for our own lives. The question we must each answer for ourselves is this…”Who will serve as the example for my life today; is it Jesus, or some facet of the world?”
“For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”
John 13:15 ESV
While living in this world we are tempted by many of its treasures, and by the lives of those who have come to possess them. If we make acquiring financial wealth a goal for ourselves then we study, and seek to imitate, men who have made a great deal of money. If the love of nature is our ultimate desire we look at the lives, and writings, of naturalists, thus the list of worldly treasures, and the desire to follow, and worship, those who attain them, goes on and on. So, where do God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and our faith, fit into our lives? Do we place them first? Second? Third? Or are they just an afterthought in our crowded worldly lives? Is a cabin in the woods, a grand yacht, the acceptance of society, or great power and prestige, our ultimate desires? Or, is it to follow Jesus, and worship God?
““No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Matthew 6:24 ESV
Life is full of choices, with most of them being trivial, but some are life altering and dictate who our masters, and gods, will be. These decisions regarding what we will ultimately base our lives on are pivotal, and determine our faith… what we will worship and who our master will be forms us, and guides our core beliefs. What we find ultimately true in this is that we must choose, we can only serve one master, and that no matter what we choose we will become subservient to it.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
John 13:16-17 ESV
Determining who our God will be is the most important decision in our lives. Will we choose a worldly one with a lower case “g”, or the God of Abraham, and His Son Jesus Christ with a capital “G”? As we ask ourselves this most basic and important of all questions we will be deciding between an eternal life, or a limited worldly one; spiritual joy everlasting, or the temporary pleasures of the physical world. Our choice to follow, and use Jesus as the template for our lives is the most life altering decision we can ever make, but once made we must live it…
“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
John 13:17 ESV
It isn’t enough to say we believe in God, and that Jesus is His Son, we must study, worship, and obey them; conforming our lives to theirs. Simply saying we believe is not enough. Just like those who say they want to be financially independent must take action to achieve that goal, or those who desire be a naturalist must study and live in nature, so it is with being of faith, and a child of God… it takes belief, study, action, obedience, and living our lives in a specific, dedicated, and godly way.
“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”
Matthew 16:24-26 ESV
We can still work a job, go fishing, and do many other pleasurable things in the world, but we must keep them in perspective, and not allow them to dominate our thoughts, control us, or vie for the title of master… we must always make our faith, and love of God our core belief, and the unchallenged focus of our lives. So who, or what, serves as the example by which we will live our lives? Who is our master, and who is our God?
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”
Romans 8:5-7 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus Christ through whom we come to you, and who is the template by which we live our lives. Thank you for the pleasures of this world you have created, and which we enjoy in appropriate proportion. Help us Lord to resist the temptation to focus our lives on the pleasures of this world at the cost of our faith in you. Let your Holy Spirit order our lives through the understanding and remembrance of your Word, and Jesus show us how to walk in this world while living spiritually in you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who rescues us from the temptation of the world, and sets our feet firmly on the path of righteousness. Praised be your name for allowing us to order our lives such that you remain our God, King, master, and Father, while we are permitted to enjoy the pleasures of the world in subjugation to our faith in you. Merciful are you who delivers us from evil, and leads us not in temptation. You grace is sufficient for us Lord, and your love has brought it to bear on our lives through Jesus, your Son, and our Redeemer. Cleanse us Father in His precious blood, and see only His image when we stand before you in judgement… having followed after Him in our lives to come before you. Pronounce us worthy, and call us your children forevermore.
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Colossians 3:1-4 ESV
Rich Forbes