A Tale of Three Servants

After the death of Moses the Lord ’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. (Joshua 1:1, 2 NLT)

D.L Moody, while in the prime of his ministry then as the world's only famous evangelist was once visited by a large contingent of European pastors who had come to attend one of his conferences in Massachusetts. The custom in Europe then was that guests would leave their shoes outside their rooms for them to be cleaned by hall servants overnight. So these guests did exactly that. However, unknowingly to them, in America there were no hall servants.

After the guests had gone to bed, Moody saw the shoes while walking in the dormitory that night and intent on not embarrassing these pastors, took all the shoes to his room and cleaned them all secretly. The European pastors woke up in the morning to see their shoes all cleaned and shinning without knowing who had cleaned them. Moody told no one about this and the story would have been lost to the world had it not been for a friend that had had arrived unexpectedly during the night and had seen Moody cleaning the shoes. This was just one of the incidents in Moody's life that showed his servant heart. No wonder he was great.

If you scan our text today, you will see three mentions of the world servant or assistant. Moses was the Lord's servant in life. Joshua was Moses' assistant and God called Moses his servant even after his death. The two people God spoke to in this passage where both certified servants just like Moody.

There is greatness in the kingdom of God. Jesus, while speaking on kingdom greatness gave only one prerequisite - becoming the servant of all ( Matthew 20:25-26). Every truly great person in the kingdom of God is a certified servant. Even Jesus, the greatest of all says he did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for all Mark 10:45) . He was given a name above every name because he humbled himself and became a servant (Philippians 2:9-11)

Do you desire greatness? It is available to you. However, it is not in the way the world achieves it. Those who the world call great are not necessarily great in God's estimation. Your greatness is in your decision to become a lifelong certified servant of God and his people. You can start that journey to greatness today. Determine to become a servant. Look around you and add input and value to those he has placed around you. Seek out God's will and commit yourself to serving your generation. Be like Paul who took on the place of a bond servant (Romans 1:1) . He knew he was a son but he gladly chose to be a servant. Be like David who served God's purpose in his generation ( Acts 13:36). Choose to begin living the great life today.


Decision of the Day

I choose greatness in life so I choose to become a servant today. I will live to serve God and his purpose in my generation. From today, day by day, I will take advantage of opportunities to serve.