My devotion this morning addressed the disciples question of greatness. Their quarrel over who was the greatest among them. Luke 9:43-56. I wanted to share a few pieces of what I read with you as it challenged me to think and reflect, “what do I want greatness to look like in my life and where does my soul seek greatness.
. . .
“Our greatest hinderance to greatness may be the desire to be great. Our society thrives on ambition.”
Christ was on the road to greatness yet He lived a humbled life. “He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.
Hebrew 2:9-10 makes the remarkable statements that Jesus “tasted death” on our behalf and says it was fitting for God to “make the author of [our] salvation perfect through suffering.”
Don’t be confused by the idea that the author of our salvation became perfect through suffering. Christ was always perfect in terms of sinlessness. The word teleioo, meaning “to complete, make perfect by reaching the intended goal.” Christ reached the goal (our salvation and His exaltation) through suffering. His road to greatness was a rocky one. A painful one. He knew it in advance, and yet He set His face resolutely toward the goal and accomplished it. Simply put,…
we were worth it to Him.
No matter how resistant we may be to the call, our road to true greatness is also the highway to humility. At times it too will involve suffering, rejection, betrayal, and, yes, even death - to self. The question becomes,…
”Is He worth it to us?”
. . .
Our road to greatness will not look like the world’s. But keep in mind, our reward does not either. It will be much greater. And will last forever.
