Thursday, November 19, 2009

Just Doing Our Duty

And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.
—Isaiah 64:8

In Luke 17, Jesus told a parable about servants who were given a task to fulfill. At the end of the story, Jesus said, "And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty' " (verses 9-10).

You see, true servants of Jesus want to do what God wants them to do. We are just doing our duty. And as God's servants, we need to remember that everything we have is on loan from Him: our lives, our health, our careers, our ministries, our possessions, our families, and our future. It all belongs to God.

So the idea is not finding out how God can bless our dreams and ambitions and goals. Rather, our objective is to discover His goals, His purposes, and then align ourselves with them. Why? Because we are His servants.

Some people just want Jesus along for the ride. But God does not want to be our copilot. He is the Master, and we are the servants. He is the Potter, and we are the clay. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you become His: "You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

We like the fringe benefits, if you will, of being a follower of Jesus. But our Master, the one we are following, is not only a Friend who loves us, but a Potter who is molding us. And the more we know of Him and His plan and purpose, the more willing we will be to do what He wants us to do.

Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. 
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
and
to listen to Greg Laurie's daily broadcast on OnePlace.com, click here.

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