My Jude Bible study has a lesson on the term bondservant. This is an essential term; many of those we honor as Apostles refer to themselves with this language. Paul refers to himself and Timothy as bondservants of Christ Jesus in chapter One of Philippians. Jude refers to himself as a servant of the Lord. James, the brother of Jude and Jesus, the Lord Himself, says he is “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” I could go into the Greek to analyze this adjective, but I won't. Instead, I will look at some verses describing this role's attitude.
Let's begin with Matthew 5:3, where it is said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” Moving on to Matthew 5:5, we find, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Then, James 4:10 continues, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” Let’s end with James 4:6: “But he gives more grace. Therefore, it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
It is in this relationship that we see God lifting His servant. Because the bondservant humbles himself, God responds by giving him or her grace for the mundane, ministry, and miraculous as He sees fit. He chooses those others may kick to the curb. He prioritizes those the world and even other believers have pushed aside. I love how 2 Chronicles 16:9 defines the relationship with God and His bondservant, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him…” His eyes are not searching for the most powerful, educated, well-spoken, wealthy, most notable, or other unless they’ve submitted to Him as a bondservant. We can see this when God sent Samuel to anoint the second king of Israel. In First Samuel 16, David’s father sent for all the impressive brothers, but none were the one God wanted. God told Samuel, “Don’t judge him by appearance or height… The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” What about the heart does God look for? He looks for the one that humbles him or herself before Him. He looks for the one who willingly bows to him as a slave or bondservant.
I’m preparing the book of Luke for my winter home Bible study. There is something about studying a book of the Bible that becomes familiar, yet God begins to show you truths that were not seen before. I am not speaking about “new truths or revelations,” but things on the pages that were looked over and eyes were not opened to see in previous readings. In Luke 3, the author Luke begins by outlining all those who are in ruling positions—those who led and drew fear from the people. In one case, he speaks of the high priest Annas, the man God’s very own people looked to for spiritual leadership. This list is impressive: those who reigned, governors, and tetrarchs, but God did not speak to any of those in this section of the list. They may have impressed the people, but they had not impressed God. The paragraph finishes with the words, “God ‘s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” The simplicity of what God is looking for is minimal, yet there is a struggle to offer it.
Another example came to mind as I prayed through this. In 1 Samuel 3: “Now in those days messages from the LORD were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.” Aaron’s descendant Eli was a Priest then, yet God did not speak to the people. He had a role of power and influence with the people; when you read the first chapters of this book, you will determine that Eli mattered. But God looked past him. He searched and found a bondservant whose heart was blameless, a boy named Samuel. The same chapter and verse begin, “Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the LORD by assisting Eli…”
My goal in this blog is to lay out the essential nature of being a bondservant for God. While the appeal is towards those who have the coveted pedigrees through the Word of God, those people are looked over by God for those who are humble toward Him. It does not mean God looks past them for their pedigree, but only if their dependence is in their pedigree. God is looking to pour himself for the work of His Kingdom into the humble. They may be the ones left in the field with the sheep. They might be the weirdo living in the wilderness. They may even be seen as too young. How we see them is not where the relevance begins. The essential element is that they offer themselves as a bondservant who humbles themselves before God. In that case, His eyes will find a landing pad that uses them for service in a way that pedigree, riches, fame, and many social media followers are limited in prospering the soul. The bondservant will be the one God picks, His Word comes to, and for whom “Suddenly the Lord calls out…” The world may overlook you, but God is ready for you, His bondservant, the humble.
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