Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Today's Passage: Matthew 20

This chapter continues the theme of selflessness. Two more times we hear Jesus emphasize acts of service and humility in order to be great or first. He is obviously very serious about it...which means we should be too.

I had never considered myself to be a selfish person. Of course I had other flaws, but I always pretty much thought I had selfishness under control. I mean everyone is selfish to some extent, but I wouldn't have described myself that way. And selfishness was one of my biggest pet peeves. I could not stand it when I felt like somebody was being completely oblivious to the rest of the world. Yep, I pretty much had that one all figured out...

...until one summer, when I began to pray the last two verses of Psalm 139...

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Now the tricky thing about this prayer is that God is usually more than happy to answer it...quickly. The same week, I ended up throwing a mental FIT about something a friend was going to do that made me jealous. I kept it all on the inside, but God still slapped me in the face with the realization that I am, in fact, very selfish at times. Today's passage reminds me of that summer. Christ's emphasis on selflessness teaches us that not only is it very important, but it doesn't necessarily look the way we may think it looks. Selflessness is not merely the absence of selfishness...it actually entails making yourself LAST so that another can be FIRST.

On Monday, Michael challenged us to consider what we might give up for God in order to make Him first. As God truly becomes first in our lives, may we also consider how to make ourselves last in order to lift up others. Are we sincerely selfless...the way that Christ demonstrated?