From First to Last!

“Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said,

“Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

Mark 9:35

Jesus didn’t say we shouldn’t want to be first.

As a matter of fact, He told us how to become first.

But He might just as well have been speaking a language we don’t understand.

It’s not enough for the first to be near the end, he emphasized his point by saying he first must be the very last.  

You might say the way to the front is by bringing up the rear!

That mindset, that behavior is just too foreign to us.

We are, after all, the most important person in the room.

At least, that’s what we think.

But Jesus didn’t stop there.

He said we must also be the servant of all.

Huh?

So I’m last in line and I’m washing everyone else’s feet?

Now you’re getting it!

How far we have moved from the expectation of what it means to be first.

But Jesus did more than talk.

He showed us when He went to the cross.

He did that to serve you and me.

He did that to set us free.

He did that to bring us back to the Father.

He demonstrated for us what it means to be first and servant to all.