Jesus And Culture Week 2, Devotion 1
“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” – Mark 10:43-44
If you read Mark 10:44 and take it at face value, you might get the impression that Jesus calls us to be enslaved to everyone. But that’s not exactly what this verse is saying…
Jesus isn’t asking you literally enslave yourself, but to have a mindset that holds others in higher regard than you hold yourself. We are to elevate others in our own thinking. Jesus’ point in saying that we should be like slaves is to strike at our pride, and the way the world says we should pursue greatness.
Jesus wants us to always be looking to put other’s interests first. He wants us to never think too highly of ourselves, or feel like we’re entitled to a position over anyone else. He wants us to have the heart of a servant. He wants you to serve others without regard to what you get in return.
And if you do this, you’ll have a major impact on the world around you, all for the sake of making Jesus known.
Jesus And Culture Week 2, Devotion 2
“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” – 1 John 3:18
I want you to think of someone in your school who is valuable to God but whom the world has cast off to the side, and then to follow Jesus’ example and make it a point to reach out to this person.
But don’t do this because it’s what “you should do”. Ask God for a heart for others, especially those who are cast aside. Ask Him to help you love. Afterall, it’s God who gives us new hearts. If you genuinely ask God, who wants you to love and serve others, to give you a heart to do what He wants, do you think He will deny you? Then, when you genuinely have that desire to love, don’t hold back.
It will never ever be enough to read the Bible and not put it to work in your life. God gave us the Bible so we’d know Him and His ways. The idea is that knowing God transforms you and the way you live.
Make it a point to reach out to someone in your school. Follow through on living life in this culture as Jesus would live it if He were you.
Jesus And Culture Week 2, Devotion 3
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Mark 10:45
There’s a basic truth in this verse, one that’s so simple, it lends itself to a pretty short devotion. Here’s the truth:
If serving others was good enough for Jesus, who was, you know, God Himself, then serving others is good enough for you.
If Jesus, who is God, who, according to the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1, made all things and holds all things together . . . if THIS Jesus could devote His life on earth to serving humanity, then we have no excuse for not doing the same.
You are called to imitate Christ through the way in which you live your life.
Isn’t it time you started looking for how you can meet other people’s needs?
There’s no time like today to get started.