Being a Servant on the Off Hours

Luke 17:7-10

“And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink. Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded of him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you were commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.” (NKJV)

When I read these verses, I feel a sense of conviction. I have been working on putting servant hood into practice for the last month and a half, doing whatever I can and everything I am asked. I have been working on serving not only in the motions, but with the heart of serving. I have also been working on worshipping God with my service and have thought that I had figured out service and being a servant. But I now realize that there is no “figuring it out”; for being a hardworking, selfless, servant is only achieved through Christ living inside of us and pouring out.

We are all servants working in the field (both needing to faithfully work avidly for Christ as well as work on the mission field). We have our own battles we need to fight and have people we are called to minister to. Most of us Christians have realized this and are serving, while others need to begin, but I believe we are all guilty of being unfaithful servants. I have heard from many sources that the number one reason why missionaries leave mission fields is because of other missionaries. Potter’s Field Ministries has many missionaries in the world preaching the gospel and has a lot of experience in this topic. They say that one problem that all missionaries need to fight through is being a servant both on and off the mission field. In other words, many missionaries can serve God faithfully throughout the day, but when they come home at night they leave their servant hood at the doorstep and are selfish slobs in their house. They were faithful in the field, but then refused to serve when they came home. A servant who serves faithfully in the field, but then refuses to serve his Master is just as bad as the servant who is lazy in the field and refuses to serve his Master; for they are equally failures. Just as we need to have Christ flow into us for us to pour out, so we need to be a servant behind closed doors to be a true servant on the field.

To exemplify what I have learned I am going to pray for a heart of servant hood