Greatness vs. Servanthood
It is ironic that when Jesus told His disciples that they would fall away and abandon Him, it followed an argument regarding which disciple was the greatest. Jesus told His well-intended followers that it was not enough to claim to be great. The real test of following Jesus was seen in a willingness to serve. Jesus warned His disciples not to be like everyone else.
Most in the world talk a big talk and make outrageous claims, but they never deliver. As Jesus warned His disciples that hard times were coming, He turned His attention to the most boastful of the group, Peter. Luke 22 reveals that Jesus told Peter that Satan had asked to sift him like wheat. When Peter heard this dire warning, he boldly declared that he would follow Jesus even to death. It is here that we read Jesus giving Peter the well-remembered warning, “Peter, you will deny me three times before the rooster crows.”
Throughout the Bible, we are given story after story about people who come to a “crossroad” of life and faith. Time and again, those who would follow God are faced with a decision: Will I trust and obey God? Am I willing to be "all in"? Perhaps one of the most dramatic stories in the Bible about fateful decisions is found in Numbers 13. The Israelites had left the slavery of Egypt and were about to go into the Promised Land. God wanted the people to get a glimpse of how great their new homeland would be, so He told them to choose 12 men (one from each of the tribes). These 12 men would go and “spy out” the land. After these men fulfilled their mission, they brought back stories of how great the land was. They even brought back fresh fruit (it was the harvest season). However, despite all the wonders of the Promised Land, 10 of the 12 spies believed that this venture would be a disaster. They said that the Israelites would not be able to conquer the land. Their fateful words were, “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes” (Numbers 13:33). Despite seeing God deliver them from their Egyptian oppressors with miracle after miracle, the Israelites failed at this “crossroad” decision. My guess is that if the average Israelite were asked if they believed in God, they would have said, “Yes.” If you asked them whether they would stop trusting and obeying God, they would have said, “No, Never, Not me!” The sad truth is that this entire generation of the Israelite nation would die in the wilderness because of their faithlessness.
How are you doing in your walk with God? It is easy to naively state that you and God are great. But, really? Just like Peter, we can say that we will follow Jesus to the death. The question at hand is: how are you living? What sacrifices have we made for God lately? When big and difficult decisions come along, do we back down? Are we only willing to make big claims when it costs us nothing? What worries you most each day: what people think or what God thinks?
Remember the 12 spies? Ten of the spies had no faith in God. One of the two who had faith in God was Joshua. Joshua would lead God’s people into the Promised Land after the death of Moses. Remember the words God gave him in Joshua 1:7: “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.” (NIV) Keep looking up!