First Things...First

Often when we sit down to read the Word of God, we can't wait to get to the "meat." We begin to seach for that "word" that will make an impact on our lives. Lately I have realized that often I miss the "first things" that the Word is saying to me.

Not long ago I took a look at the book of Philippians, and the very first two verses of that book seemed to jump off the page to me:

"1Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints

in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

2Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father,

and from the Lord Jesus Christ."

Two things moved me in these two verses. First Paul addresses he and Timothy as "servants of Jesus Christ." Paul had the right attitude. The word for "servant" in the Greek is really the word "slave." Paul saw himself as a person who was bound to Jesus. He was no longer serving himself, he was serving Jesus. He was no longer living by his own rules, he was living by the rules of the Master. In Paul's day, you could become a slave involuntarily or voluntarily, Paul had become a voluntary slave of Christ. Paul was now willing to do whatever needed to be done to serve his Lord.

Later in this first chapter Paul seems to weigh his options"

"For me, life finds all of its meaning in Christ. Death also has its benefits. 22) Suppose I go on living in my body. Then I will be able to carry on my work. It will beat a lot of fruit. But what should I choose? I don't know. 23) I can't decide between the two. I long to leave this world and be with Christ. That is better by far. 24) But it is more important for you that I stay alive." New International Reader's Version Phil: 1:21-24

Do you see how different this attitude is from the attitude we often live with? We tend to view Christ as OUR servant. We ask Him to do our bidding, and if things don't go our way...we want an explanation. However, it is only when we submit to Christ as "sevants" and are willing to trust His leadership that we proclaim as Paul "for me to live is Christ!"

The second thing that jumped out at me was that Paul had the right message, "Grace be unto you." The word "grace" means "undeserved gift." When we say that we are people who have received grace, we are simply saying that we have received a gift we did not deserve. A gift given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.

Basically we have received undeserved forgiveness, and we have received an unmatched love. God reached out to us in the midst of our rebellion, and not only offered us forgiveness, but He welcomes us into His family as children. He declares us Holy (pure), assures us that we will never be alone again, and promiese us an eternal inheritance. Not because He saw something special in us, but because of His incomparable love!

A closing thought...I am sure that I am not alone, but lately it seems as though the world has gone crazy. Everyday we hear an even more horrific crime that is committed against humanity. Children are abducted, spouses are missing, gunmen enter department stores and kill at random. What is going on? What is the answer?

I think that these first two verses in the little Book of Philippians gives us a solution. What if we had more "Servants of Jesus Christ" who proclaime a message of "Grace?" "Oh Lord, make me a servant of yours, who proclaims a message of Grace."

Many Blessings,

Stephen