Matthew 19:30 & 20:16, 27. But many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first. So the last shall be first, and the first last, for many be called, but few chosen. And whosever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.
O People, very significant words of the One and Only Superstar, Jesus Christ. Hn! The audacity! As if He ever spoke any insignificant words eh? Anyway, it’s one of those times when I had something else planned, but while scanning through Matthew, I chanced on this one page with those three verses underlined, where Jesus said basically the same thing, the last shall be first and vice versa. And since I’ve perused Matthew many times and never noticed it before, I felt that there must be some significance, some Divine guidance at work. Moreover, it tied in quite nicely with the humility aspect in yesterday’s Bit. In those three verses, J.C is simply reiterating His basic philosophy of Humility; of dying to self, of putting others first, of giving of oneself to help others, even though you may need more help than them. In the first verse He’s telling His listeners that who ever gives up their earthly wealth and family to follow Him, will be moved to the head of the line when He returns in all his Princely glory and splendour. The second verse comes at the end of the parable about the land owner who hired workers at different times of the day and paid the last hires the same as the first. Obviously the first set complained, figuring they deserved more because they’d worked the longest. And it does seem unfair, but as the owner rightly pointed out, that was the nature of their contract, so he was not obliged to pay them more. This led J.C to make the assertion that many are called, but few really chosen. And we see this in all walks of life. There are auditions and interviews for everything, sometimes thousands of applicants for only a handful of roles or positions. And finally, the third verse. Here, Jesus gathered His disciples around Him and explained that unlike the normal world, where the leaders are always first and have it cushy, in His philosophy, whoever wanted to be the head honcho, must first be the servant, the ordinary man. A good leader must also be a good follower, else how would he know what it takes to make people follow him. And Jesus personified this theory splendidly! He was kind and gentle, clearly explained what He was about, and even washed His disciples feet, which in olden times was considered a lowly, demeaning job. Friends, it simply means that to be a real follower of Jesus Christ, we need to give up our own selfish desires and concentrate on putting others first in a humble, unselfish, but enthusiastic manner, like J.C. did. Oh, I know it’s easier said than done, what with all the worldly stress and pressures, but that’s our calling, and the reason we were given the ever present, tireless assistant, the Holy Spirit. So let’s try and up our efforts nuh, so we can bring greater glory to His Name. Much LOVE!…remember…only in dying to ourselves…can we live for Him
O People, very significant words of the One and Only Superstar, Jesus Christ. Hn! The audacity! As if He ever spoke any insignificant words eh? Anyway, it’s one of those times when I had something else planned, but while scanning through Matthew, I chanced on this one page with those three verses underlined, where Jesus said basically the same thing, the last shall be first and vice versa. And since I’ve perused Matthew many times and never noticed it before, I felt that there must be some significance, some Divine guidance at work. Moreover, it tied in quite nicely with the humility aspect in yesterday’s Bit. In those three verses, J.C is simply reiterating His basic philosophy of Humility; of dying to self, of putting others first, of giving of oneself to help others, even though you may need more help than them. In the first verse He’s telling His listeners that who ever gives up their earthly wealth and family to follow Him, will be moved to the head of the line when He returns in all his Princely glory and splendour. The second verse comes at the end of the parable about the land owner who hired workers at different times of the day and paid the last hires the same as the first. Obviously the first set complained, figuring they deserved more because they’d worked the longest. And it does seem unfair, but as the owner rightly pointed out, that was the nature of their contract, so he was not obliged to pay them more. This led J.C to make the assertion that many are called, but few really chosen. And we see this in all walks of life. There are auditions and interviews for everything, sometimes thousands of applicants for only a handful of roles or positions. And finally, the third verse. Here, Jesus gathered His disciples around Him and explained that unlike the normal world, where the leaders are always first and have it cushy, in His philosophy, whoever wanted to be the head honcho, must first be the servant, the ordinary man. A good leader must also be a good follower, else how would he know what it takes to make people follow him. And Jesus personified this theory splendidly! He was kind and gentle, clearly explained what He was about, and even washed His disciples feet, which in olden times was considered a lowly, demeaning job. Friends, it simply means that to be a real follower of Jesus Christ, we need to give up our own selfish desires and concentrate on putting others first in a humble, unselfish, but enthusiastic manner, like J.C. did. Oh, I know it’s easier said than done, what with all the worldly stress and pressures, but that’s our calling, and the reason we were given the ever present, tireless assistant, the Holy Spirit. So let’s try and up our efforts nuh, so we can bring greater glory to His Name. Much LOVE!…remember…only in dying to ourselves…can we live for Him
SCRIP-BITS 