As stewards of His salvation and grace, God allows us to hold this precious treasure in an earthen (flesh) vessel. This privilege is not granted on the basis of wealth, pedigree, social status, education, achievements, or fame. In fact, most of these things are hindrances – yes, and even obstacles!
It’s a conundrum; for Kingdom wisdom has nothing to do with worldly wisdom. In the Kingdom, the way up is down. We are called to serve – at our Master’s bidding. Moreover, His ways run counter to popular opinion. His servants are meek and lowly, humble in heart, ministers of reconciliation; they understand “He must increase, I must decrease.†The chief among them are those who are the most diligent at serving.
Do you desire to do great thingsfor God? This is a good and noble aspiration. Let us look into what Jesus thought was great and see what caused Him to use the word great as an adjective.
Jesus admired great faith. To the Syro-Phoenecian woman, He said, “O woman, great is thy faith!†Of the centurion, He said, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.†Both were Gentiles. They had no rights and the Jewish religious leaders were always willing remind them of this fact. But they both believed Jesus had power to reach around all that. Their faith so overwhelmed Him, (causing Him to marvel and rejoice in the promise their faith represented,) it moved Him to reach across an entire dispensation of time to meet their need.
Jesus identified the great commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…†And… “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.†(Matthew 22:35-40)
His burden was the great harvest. It prompted His only prayer request, “pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth laborers into His harvest.†(Luke 10:2) Before He ascended, Jesus sent His disciples forth into His harvest with what we call the “Great Commission.†See Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:45-48; John 4:35-38; and Acts 1:8.
Jesus contrasted the world’s concept with the Kingdom’s this way, “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.†(Matthew 20:23-28)
Considering these things – obviously, growth and greatness in the Kingdom is not like the world thinks. Greatness in God’s eyes doesn’t come because of a college degree or material acquisition, an exhaulted position or claim to fame. Jesus identified three areas of Kingdom greatness – great faith, great commandments, and a great harvest – all of which require having God in His proper place in your heart and mind. His idea of greatness is defined by degrees of service. By way of example, Jesus, who was Lord and Master, laid aside His robe and girded Himself with a towel. Then He bowed down low and began the most humble of tasks, the one usually assigned to the lowliest servant – washing the feet of all twelve of His disciples, (including Judas!) – and this just after they had been quarreling among themselves over who was the greatest.
“Moreover, it is required in steward, that a man be found faithful.†(I Corinthians 4:2) Yet, Jesus said the servant who does everything his master commands is still unprofitable (Luke 17:10). The coveted words, “Well done!†were said to “good and faithful servants†– men who knew their master and what pleased him and stewarded what they were given to bring their master an increase on his investment. We prove our faith by exercising it – putting it to work for His glory.
So, you want to do great things? Utilize what you’ve been given to bring increase to what interests your Lord and Master. By love serve – and seek to add eternal souls to His Kingdom!
Marjorie Kinnee is Managing Editor of the Apostolic Writers Digest and attends New Life Apostolic Church in Detroit, MI.
