The Believer’s Highest Honor
JOHN 12:24-26 

I will never forget the best introduction that I have ever received as an invited speaker. The presenter simply said, “It is my great pleasure to introduce to you my brother, Charles Stanley, servant of the Most High God.” I couldn’t move from my seat for a few moments; I was so struck by this opening that glorified the Lord and identified my proper position.

The Bible describes believers as ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20), soldiers (2 Tim. 2:3), and saints (Eph. 2:19). But the highest honor that we can receive is to be called servants of the Most High God. Those who die to self in order to follow the Lord’s will may stand in last place from the world’s perspective, but they are first in His kingdom.

Sadly, service to God is often equated solely with what goes on at church. The preacher serves. The choir serves. The worker in the soup kitchen serves. But the guy pushing papers and the woman cleaning up others’ messes tend to be seen as simply doing their jobs. From the Father’s vantage point, though, work well done brings as much glory to His name as a song lifted in praise (Col. 3:23-24). So take heart—if you’re doing quality work and striving to make an impact on those around you, then you are serving God.

Service to the Lord is not about what we do, but rather how well we do all that we’re given to accomplish. God doesn’t measure success simply by what is achieved. A good servant shares both Jesus Christ’s attitude of humility and His motivation to reach people with the love of God

Our Shepherd-king

He shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord.

Micah 5:4

Christ’s reign in His Church is that of a shepherd-king. He has supremacy, but it is the superiority of a wise and tender shepherd over his needy and loving flock. He commands and receives obedience, but it is the willing obedience of the well-cared-for sheep, rendered joyfully to their beloved Shepherd, whose voice they know so well. He rules by the force of love and the energy of goodness.

His reign is practical in its character. It is said, “He shall stand and shepherd.” The great Head of the church is actively engaged in providing for His people. He does not sit down upon the throne in empty state or hold a scepter without wielding it in government. No; He stands and shepherds. The expression “shepherd” in the original is like an analogous one in the Greek that means to do everything expected of a shepherd: to guide, to watch, to preserve, to restore, to tend, as well as to feed.

His reign is continual in its duration. It is said, “He shall stand and shepherd”; not “He shall feed now and then and leave His position”; not “He shall one day grant a revival and then next day leave His Church to barrenness.” His eyes never slumber, and His hands never rest; His heart never ceases to beat with love, and His shoulders are never weary of carrying His people’s burdens.

His reign is effectually powerful in its action; “He shall . . . shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD.” Wherever Christ is, there is God; and whatever Christ does is the act of the Most High. It is a joyful truth to consider that He who stands today representing the interests of His people is very God of very God, to whom every knee shall bow. We are happy to belong to such a shepherd, whose humanity communes with us and whose divinity protects us. Let us worship and bow down before Him as the people of His pasture.

The family reading plan for August 19, 2011

1 Samuel 11 | Romans 9