THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

October 19, 2022

LIFE IN THE FOLD

The idea of being a servant or serving others seems very degrading to many. It means humbling themselves and doing things that they may not particularly want to do. People tend to like the thought of being served, instead of being the servant. Perhaps it's because when you think of having others at your beck and call, it means that you are in a position of wealth or power.

But this is contrary to what Jesus teaches. There are many scriptures that speak about the need of us being servants. In fact, Mark 10:45 says, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." Jesus didn't come as a king to be served, but he came to serve others. He did that by feeding the hungry, healing the sick, teaching the crowds of people who followed him, calming the storms, and in so many different ways. He served mankind by giving his life for their salvation so that they no longer had to offer sacrifices, but could have forgiveness and eternal life through the shedding of his blood.

John 12:26 says, "Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me."

How do we serve the Lord? Joshua 22:5 answers this. "Be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you. Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul."

We are not only commanded to serve the Lord, but to serve others.

1 Peter 4:10 says, "God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another."

Galatians 5:13, 14: "You have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Hebrews 6:10 tells us, "God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them."

One last scripture passage if Philippians 2:3-5 : "Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had."

Though Jesus was God, he humbled himself to come to earth as a baby. He lived among mankind, leaving his heavenly throne to become human flesh. He was tortured, mocked, and was crucified on a cross. He did it all out of his great love for us.

In John chapter 13 we read about Jesus washing the disciples' feet. He took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began washing the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. Peter had a problem with Jesus kneeling down before him to wash his feet. Jesus told him, "You don't understand now what I am doing, but someday you will."

Peter protested and said, "No, you will never ever wash my feet!" Jesus answered by telling him, "Unless I wash you, you won't belong to me."

First of all, Jesus washing his disciples' feet is a picture of his humility and servanthood. He was doing something that was usually the job of a servant; washing dirty feet. This isn't something that you'd expect from the Messiah! But He had been teaching them about the importance of serving and loving others. But it was also a picture of the cleaning power of the blood of Jesus to wash away our sins. Unless we come to Him and allow Him to wash us, then we cannot be made clean.

I was reminded of the above story a few days ago. My nephew's little 4-year old daughter had a major surgery on Monday of last week. She has done very well. I stopped by on Monday of this week to check up on her and give her a hug. She is this beautiful, dainty, strong little girl. She is in a neck brace that goes up the back of her head a ways and down to her shoulders, then in front goes up to her jawline and down her chest a ways. This is to hold her neck in place so that she can't move it or her head; and she will need to wear if for 3 months. But she was playing and happy.

I had taken my shoes off while I was sitting on the couch talking to her and her brother. When I was ready to leave she told me, "I'll get your shoes for you." She brought them to me, then knelt down in front of me and told me, "I'll put your shoes on you." I told her that she didn't have to do that; I could put my shoes on by myself. She said, "I can do it! I'll put your shoes on you." It was so difficult for me to sit there and watch that sweet little girl, wearing that brace, knelt down putting my shoes on for me.

In a small way, I got a glimpse into how Peter felt when Jesus knelt down in front of him to wash his feet. "I can do it myself! I'm never going to let you do that for me! This is too much!" I had the thought, "If someone walked in and saw this little girl knelt down putting my shoes on for me, while I just sit here, they would think, 'What is that woman doing, making Mariah put her shoes on for her?! That lazy woman should put her own shoes on!'"

I've put Mariah's shoes on her many times over the last four years of her life, and never thought anything about it. She has put my shoes on my a few times when I've been babysitting and she wanted me to take her outside. But there was something about watching her, with her neck brace on, knelt down in front of me and putting my shoes on for me. She was so excited when she finished and smiled at me and said, "I did it, Retta!"

Sometimes in life we are the servants and sometimes we are the ones being served. That's how God designed life. There are times when we serve and help others, and times when we are the ones being served and helped. Although we are always servants of God, there are times when we are serving and ministering and working for him; yet times when we are allowing him to serve us and refresh and renew and fill us -- so that we are able to serve him and others to the best of our ability.

There is a difference between being a servant and a slave. A slave has a specific job and does what they are told to do, because they fear punishment if they don't. Their desire is not to please others and be a blessing and help, but to stay out of trouble. Being a slave is not freedom, but being bound by laws and regulations.

That's not how our life as believers is supposed to be. We don't love God, because we fear punishment and hell if we don't. We don't work and do for others, because it's a commandment and we fear discipline if we fail to do so. In fact, Galatians 4:7 says, "Now you are no longer a slave, but God's own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir."

We need to realize that we are not slaves, but servants. We obey God's commandments and serve him, not out of duty, but out of love. We serve and help others, not because it's commanded, but because we love. Love is what sets us apart as servants of God, instead of a slave mentality. There is freedom in Christ; not to sin and do as we want, but freedom to love and live life abundantly, as children of God.

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

Doing service for others is important. Ways to serve others aren't always obvious, or might seem too big to get started. But little ways can also be important, like putting your dishes together for a waiter to clean your table more easily, holding a door for the next person coming through, or picking up some trash you may see on the ground.

But don't forget to allow others to serve, too. Mariah wanted to serve Loretta. It is part of her nature to want to help others. It's very important to nurture that instead of stifling it. If Loretta had told her, "No, silly, don't do that.", she might never try again. Or if Loretta criticized her for doing it wrong, or refused to thank Mariah for it, she might not want to help anyone again.

It is important to thank others for serving in small ways, with a nod or verbal "Thank you". And to accept their service when you can, even if it doesn't feel important to you; it may be important to them.

I've had to work with volunteers, especially while our church was doing construction projects. They aren't always perfect, and sometimes they take more of my time than they save. But in the long run, it is still worth it to let them serve, and to accept it with a heart of thanksgiving.

So as much as you nurture serving others in yourselves, nurture the service of others, too.

ON THE MENEWE:

Creamy Tuscan Ravioli Soup

In a large stock pot brown ground sausage until no longer pink; drain. Saute onion and garlic in pot until softened; add sausage back in; add seasoning. (You can also add in mushrooms.) Pour in chicken broth and cans of tomatoes and heat until it comes to a boil. Add ravioli (I like using cheese tortellini, because I think it makes it easier to eat) and cook for 5-7 minutes. Add in spinach and cook for a few minutes until it wilts. Stir in half and half and parmesan cheese.

This is good eaten with bread sticks.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

I love it when kids use their imaginations! When I was a little girl, I remember playing pretend and by using my imagination I could have all kinds of adventures. I had a small set of plastic farm animals and I remember playing in the dirt and building a big farm. I would use sticks for my fences. Mama would give me jar lids that I would fill up with water and that would be my ponds (I did that after I figured out that digging a hole in the dirt and filling it with water didn't stay!). That was one of my favorite things to play. One or two of my older sisters loved playing paper dolls, only they didn't have/like real paper dolls, but would cut them out of the catalog. They would find the right woman as the mother, a man as the dad, and then cut out however many kids they wanted in their family.

Several years ago, my nephew told me that his little boy has made himself a cell phone out of paper. He had drawn buttons on front of it for his apps, and told his dad that he had downloaded a lot of different apps. He would pretend to put stuff on his calendar app. My nephew and his son were going to be home alone on a Friday evening and the son had been planning out what they were going to do and putting it on one of his apps. My nephew told me that they had an old iPod and he could download some of those apps (for real) on it, but his son was having so much fun with his paper phone, so he just let him play with that instead. He would carry his paper pretend phone around with him. He told his dad, "I just love my phone!"

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. - Will Rogers

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org