Lord's Day Devotion - To Serve and Give (Mark 10)

 "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45 ESV).

Jesus didn't come to earth to get but to give.  This came at great cost, as He gave His life.  The word 'many' indicates that not all mankind wished to be ransomed but we can thank God, many have in the past and continue to so wish in the present.

God's purpose and plan was for Jesus to serve and give His life for the people of earth.  And He did just that.   We see Jesus' service or, we can say, servanthood, in the gospel of Mark.  He walked village to village and town to town, teaching and healing the sick.  He would stop for individuals, converse and heal them and say,

 "Go your way; your faith has made you well" (Mark 10:53).

It is still by faith that we accept the ransom Jesus extends to us today.  Many reading this have accepted Him as Savior and Lord of their lives.

When we have, do we continue to follow Jesus, as Bartimaeus did?  He had been blind but now he could see.  When our blindness to spiritual matters is 'healed' by faith and we can see, let's follow Him all our lives despite hardships that come our way.

Above all, we can follow Jesus' example to serve, to servanthood.  You'll note that in many of the letters written by the apostle Paul,  he addresses himself as a "servant of Jesus Christ."  Simon Peter claims this 'title' too.

At church, at home, at work, wherever we may be or in whatever we do, let's remind ourselves that we attend in order to give and serve, not to only get.  Can we go all out, as Jesus did - even giving His very life?

This we can seriously cogitate upon.  We can also give Jesus our grateful thanks this Lord's Day as we come together as the family of God and partake of those symbols which remind us of Jesus' ultimate sacrifice that ransomed our souls.  The broken bread reminding us of His body broken for us and the cup of wine the atoning blood shed for us.  This we do often to remember He served and gave, so many could come to Him, just like you did.

Abba Father, we, Your children give You our grateful thanks and praise for sending Jesus to serve us so well by giving His whole life for us.  We thank You in Jesus' name, amen.

                                               ~ERC  July 2025 ~

Based on Mark 10:42-52 (ESV).

Sing, The Servant King, along with Graham Kendrick.