James, a bond servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.---James 1:1
Dear Girls,
I was preparing for a study I am doing at the nursing home tomorrow and this first verse in James kept going through my head after I had finished. I started to meditate on what it really means to be a bond servant. What would being a true bond servant of Jesus Christ look like in my life. For James ultimately, it meant martyrdom.
James introduces himself as the bond servant of God and of Lord Jesus Christ. If I were James, I would have introduced myself as the Lord's brother or the head of the church in Jerusalem but that is not how James thought of himself. He humbly spoke of himself as a bond servant of Jesus. It's a title that most of the apostles delighted to take. They renounced any claim for any rights turning their lives over to God and to the Lordship of Jesus. They were bereft of ambition in a personal way. They lived solely to serve the Lord and to please Him. No rights of ownership, no title to anything, everything they had belonged to their Master. A bond servant's job is only to obey. The responsibility for the decisions and the results of their actions directed by their Master are not theirs. Do you see the beauty in that. How simple your life becomes. How most decisions you face have already been made.
Taking that word bond servant and making it personal...applying it to me and to my relationship with the Lord, would mean that I do not own anything...not my house...not bank account...not my talents....not anything. It also means that my children do not belong to me...They are in my care but they are the Lords and they are His to do with what He would do. As are my grandchildren....they are all ultimately in His hands. My time is not mine...it is the Lords...my priorities are not mine...they are the Lords. Are you getting the picture?
Job said, "Though he slay me yet I will trust in Him" and "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD." . My job is to surrender to His Spirit and be a faithful servant. Read the Word, girls, with this verse always in mind. If God is our Master, we must obey willingly. We must love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Our time, abilities, money...our very lives are not our own. We are caretakers, not owners. Remember that as a good servant, a faithful servant our job is to be obedient and leave the results up to Him. Live radically for Him...be blessed here and when your earthly life is ended your Lord will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord."
Love
Mom
Some encouraging verses for servants of the Lord...
Psa 16:10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
Psa 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
John 12:26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Joh 17:24 "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
Php 1:23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better
2Ti 2:12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
Heb 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Rev 7:17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
