Giving Up What is Precious and Dear

Matthew 20:28

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 came to give His life as ransom for many.  He came to give what was most precious and dear - a life free of sin in union with the Father in exchange for the salvation of many.  To each of His disciples, Jesus gave the command, "Come and follow Me."  He not only meant for them to join Him in His work but to follow the model of service that His life exuded.  He was asking them to give up their lives which were surely precious and dear to them in order to follow Him.

This, of course, is exactly how Jesus calls us.  He calls us to give up our lives in the flesh in order to live our new lives in Christ.  He calls us to be humble servants of the world around us.  He calls us to assist in the execution of the salvation plan.  With all that Our Savior did for us through His suffering, the shedding of His blood, His death and Resurrection, how can we deny the Lord when He calls us to serve in any measure, large or small?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us the perfect model of servanthood, Your Son, Jesus.  We praise and exalt the name of Jesus for all that He has done for us.  We pray that we will clearly hear the voice of Jesus as He calls us to join Him in humble service.  May the Holy Spirit convict us to be instruments of Your good work and vessels of Your perfect love and forgiveness.  We ask these things in the name of the Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.