Lifetime achievement awards! We see people awarded for achieving a life-long commitment in their perspective fields.
Jesus using a parable once saying, “His Lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.’” (Matthew 25:23). I have heard it said many times this is something we want to hear the Father say when we pass from this life to the next.
Paul begins the letter to the church in Philippi, “Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:” (Philippians 1:1). He uses that same word in taking about Jesus in the 2nd chapter, “but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:7
The word for bondservant in the Greek is “doulas” which means a servant with a lifetime commitment. Now, we have a negative context to this because of the abuse of people in America’s history. This wasn’t the same thing in biblical context. Paul chose to be a bondservant or “doulas”, then he describes Jesus the same way here in this verse. What Paul is saying is we CHOOSE a life-long commitment to serve Jesus and the Kingdom of heaven. I don’t know about you, but I want to be in the camp of Jesus and Paul. I want to choose this day, and every day after, to serve Jesus and build His Kingdom.
- To Know Jesus. To Live on Mission.