Wednesday's Word: Greatness

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.”

“What is your request?” he asked.

They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”

But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”

“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”

Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”

When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 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.”

Mark 10:35-45 (NLT)

In order to be great in God's Kingdom, Jesus told us that we have to be a servant. In order to be at the "top", we have to be willing to serve everyone at the "bottom". Jesus Himself did not come for His own glory or His own gain, He came to serve the world and give up His own life to save others.

It is the servant's heart that gets God's attention. Those people who have the humility to seek the needs of others above their own are the ones who God wants taking care of His people. The people who are willing to pour out of their own selves to nourish those around them are the one's who catch God's eye.

Are you like James and John? Are you too busy looking for glory that you're missing the larger mission?

Remember the role of our Savior. He came to serve. If you want to be great in God's Kingdom, you have to be willing to do the same.