Matthew 20:26-28

“Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Jesus is sovereign. He knows the desires of man, and wants to set the record straight. Here He demonstrates His ‘Self-Sufficiency.’ A.W Tozer wrote it best when he explained “.. the hardest thought of all for our natural egotism to entertain is that God does not need our help. We commonly represent Him as a busy, eager, somewhat frustrated father hurrying about seeking help to carry out His benevolent plan to bring peace and salvation to the world..” Jesus knew exactly what He came into this earth to do. Meanwhile, we wake up in the morning worrying about what to eat for breakfast.

We knew jesus came to serve, but did we know that it was something He was calling us to do as well? The ignorance of man comes into fruition when we know the calling of God, yet we do not yield to His voice. Jesus gave His life as a ransom for many. What are we doing about it? The least we can do, is yield to His voice. It doesn't hurt the Father when we disobey His voice, it hurts us (He is self sufficient after All) So fighting for first place isn't what children of God should be doing. We should be helping others find a place...a place in God's kingdom. Size, position, and number do not matter.

I remember being in pony league, as a young girl, and I still had some lessons to learn. First place and being seen were all i cared about. I had such a competitive spirit, thinking back to it, it was awful. I remember this so vividly, because it was the first time I had ever struck out and had wound up throwing such a disgusting fit. (mind you i'm like 8 years old) I took the bat and pounded the sand till it knew my name. Did i desire to great? Yes! Was i willing to become a servant? Nope.

I learned so much from my years of pony league. I truly am useless, without everyone else. No team is made up of one person. There were times when multiple people wouldn't show up for practice and it threw threw the whole week off course. In essence, we truly are useless without Christ setting the ultimate example, of serving and sacrificing. If Christ didn't do that, what exactly am I looking to?

APPLICATION: Do things in God's strength